


Of Tattoos and Books

by blondeslytherin



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Angst, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Falling In Love, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Flashbacks, Fluff, Gay Keith (Voltron), Getting Together, Happy Ending, Heartbreak, Heavy Angst, How Do I Tag, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, Librarian AU, M/M, Minor Angst, Mutual Pining, Near Death Experiences, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Pining, Violence, so much pine it's a forest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-29
Packaged: 2018-12-19 03:48:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11889342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blondeslytherin/pseuds/blondeslytherin
Summary: It's Lance's first night going to the library staff's annual Tattoo Night. He expected a night of fun getting tattooed, playing Cards Against Humanity, and eating pizza. He never thought that he might fall for the cute tattoo artist.In which Lance is the Librarian and Keith is the Tattoo artist. If you've ever seen the tumblr story about the librarians who had tattoo night, this is based off of it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So I posted this yesterday but it was a mess because none of the formatting was behaving, so I ended up deleting it. I'm sorry! But I think I've got it down now, so please bear with me. It's yet another AU that no one asked for because I seem unable to write anything but! Enjoy! Comments and Kudos are appreciated.

Lance strolled into the library, whistling under his breath. The cool air conditioning blew on his face, a welcome relief in the July heat. It was the end of his first month at the library, and he knew something was up. Allura had been giddy for days, a sign that something was different. The last time that Allura had been this giddy, Lance had been roped into reading fairy tales to the children. It should have been a one-time job, but children are naturally drawn to him and now, that was Lance’s job every Wednesday and Friday.

As the front desk came into view, Lance could see Allura’s familiar white bun bobbing to whatever music she was currently listening to in her headphones. From her erratic head movements, Lance guessed that it was pop. Yet again. How she could listen to such high-pitched voices screaming at various intervals, Lance would never now. At least she had grown out of Justin Bieber.

He used his index finger to tap her on the shoulder, and Allura jumped about a mile. She pulled her headphones out with one hand, and smiled up at Lance.

“Lance! It’s about time!” She was grinning, a smile dazzling enough to steal the air out of your lungs and Lance was reminded of the first time that they had met.

He had been searching for a book to use for school. Looking back now, Lance couldn’t remember the title of the book he was looking for, only the moment when he had seen Allura. She had had her back to him, a similar white bun to the one she sported now on her head.

“I catalog you under ‘desirable’!” Lance said without thinking. By now, pick-up lines were a staple for him. He barely even registered before they were coming out of his mouth.

Allura had turned around, given Lance a once over, and quirked an eyebrow. “No thanks,” she said simply.

“Are you sure I can’t change your mind?” Lance asked with a cocky grin. Allura had rolled her eyes and gone back to shelving the books she had been handling previously. Lance merely shrugged his shoulders. He would win her over in time.

Allura helped him find the book that he was looking for, and Lance had come back every day that week to ask her out again. None of these attempts had worked, and on the fifth day he had been there, Allura handed him a job application.

“If you’re here every day, you might as well have a job.” Lance denied the offer at the time, claiming that he still had school to take up his time. At the end of June, with nothing better to do, Lance filled out the application, not expecting a job. However, a week later Lance had received a call offering him a position at the library.

His mama had answered the call and accepted without any input from Lance. Lance protested loudly, claiming there is no possible way for him to be quiet enough to work in a library.

She had shushed him, claiming it would do him good. “But mama,” he had whined. “It’s summer. Why should I have a job?” Lance knew it was a futile attempt, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. The debate had lasted for three days, with Lance finally giving in at the end and showing up for work on his first day.

That was how he had gotten into the position he was in now. Allura smiling up at him, with a devious glint in her eyes. Lance groaned. Whatever this was could not be good.

“Drumroll please,” Allura said, as she began a soft drumbeat with her two index fingers. “Tonight, is tattoo night!”

Lance gaped at her. Tattoo night? What the hell was that? Allura hastily explained.

“Once a month, we rent out the local tattoo parlor, order pizza, and get tattooed.” Allura was grinning from ear to ear.

“Do we _have_ to get tattooed?” Allura’s grin faltered.

“Well, I don’t suppose you have to. But it is fun.” Lance bit his lip. Tattoos were a big no no in his house, but he had always wanted one. And if he got it any place where his mama wouldn’t see…

“I’m in.”

~~~

Apparently, tattoo night was not only for library employees. Anyone with regular job at the library was invited as well. That meant Hunk, the guy who gave routine culinary classes at the library, and Pidge, the girl who taught technology resource classes for the elderly, would be there as well. Lance happened to know both of them before starting a job at the library, and was over the moon to find out they would be attending tattoo tonight as well.

It was hard for Lance to contain his excitement. He and Allura had been chatting all day about what tattoos they were thinking about getting. Lance had a few ideas, but he wasn’t sure which one he wanted permanently inked on his body. By noon, Lance is finally settled on an idea.

“Come on, buddy,” Hunk complained to Lance, “please just tell me.”

Lance shakes his head. “Wait and see, dude, wait and see.” Hunk groaned.

“Please,” Hunk says, stretching out the e on the end.

“I’ll tell you mind if you tell me yours.” Lance knew that this would give him the win.

The cooking teacher huffed. “I guess we’ll just find out tonight.”

In truth, Lance was glad that Hunk would be there with him. They had always talked about getting tattoos together when they were younger, wishful dreaming on a roof in late July. Had they known that fate would give them this gift, they both would have laughed until tears had streamed out of their eyes.

No, Lance knew exactly what tattoo he was getting, and where he was getting. Everyone else would just have to wait and see.

~~~

It was well known where they would be going. The tattoo shop was centered in the middle of town, conveniently placed next to the pizza place they would be ordering from. Never in his life did Lance think he would be walking in here, let alone with the staff of the local library.

But here he was, standing in between Allura and Hunk, the sun fading in the background behind them.

If you asked Lance to describe what he thought the interior would look like, he would have told you that it was dodgy, with muscled up guys and girls sporting ink all over their bodies while smoking questionable things.

In reality, the tattoo and piercing parlor was clean, with excellent lighting and more than enough mirrors to satisfy Lance’s vanity. Hunk was watching him with a raised eyebrow as he admired the place.

“Not quite what you expected, huh?” Hunk asked softly, the teasing evident in his tone.

“Nope,” Lance replied, matching his pitch. Allura moved away, stepping over to chat with the owner.

A name tag told him that she was talking with Shiro, a tall and well-built guy with a strange shock of white hair hanging down over his forehead. The rest of his hair was black, and he sported an undercut. Contradicting popular stereotypes, Shiro didn’t have two full sleeves of tattoos. Instead, he had a single tasteful one on the inside of his left forearm. Lance couldn’t make out the details, and began to move closer to inspect.

A strong hand clamped down on his own forearm, and he halted in his tracks. Looking up at Hunk in confusion, Lance saw that he was wearing a grim expression. “I wouldn’t go there, buddy. Shiro is as straight as they come.”

“I wasn’t going to hit on him,” Lance grumbled, lying through his teeth. “I wanted to see what his tattoo was.”

But as Lance and Hunk watched, Allura let out a small giggle, reaching over to rest her fingertips on Shiro’s arm. A blush erupted on the guy’s face, and the female librarian with a matching one.

"Ohhhhh,” Lance breathed. “Yeah, dude, no. I don’t go after another girl’s guy.” Hunk nodded, watching Lance warily. The tan skinned boy usually hid his rejection well, but Hunk had known him long enough to read between the lines. But for now, Lance seemed to be okay. Hunk let out a small breath that he hadn’t realized he was holding, and smiled.

“Who’s ready to get tatted!” Allura called over the quiet conversations among the rest of the staff, and everyone cheered.

~~~

There were only two tattoo artists available that night, so the rest of the group passed the time by playing cards against humanity and munching on pizza. Lance had glanced around for the second artist, but Pidge had informed him in hushed tones that he would be here later. Lance pouted, but said nothing.

As of right now, Lance was winning, not to anyone’s surprise. He had the mind of a sewer rat, playing all of the right cards. Everyone else in attendance tried to guess which one was his and pick any other card, but nearly every round, failed.

Kolivan, the person in charge of organizing events for the library, threw his cards down in a huff. “He’s cheating! There is no other explanation!”

Lance grinned cockily at him. “You’re just a sore loser, Koli,” he said, spouting off the nickname that he knew the other man hated. Kolivan’s face turned red, and he dismissed himself from the game.

Allura frowned at him, but he knew that she wasn’t really mad. After all, she was the one that kept passing ‘new’ cards to Lance each round.

The door to the parlor opened, blowing in a fresh wave of heat. Lance glanced around. No one else from the library was supposed to be here. Meaning…

Lance looked up just in time to watch as the newcomer pulled of a motorcycle helmet, sending black locks tumbling down. The hair formed itself into a mullet, and Lance cringed. Who even thought that style was still cool?

But then violet eyes met his, and he forgot all about the atrocious hair style.

“ _Dios_ ,” Lance breathed, and Hunk turned to him in astonishment. Lance rarely spoke Spanish, and he had just done it in front of most of the library staff.

Hunk followed to where Lance’s eyes were fixed, realization dawning on him.

“Lance, no hitting on the tattoo dude.”

Lance gaped at him. “Why not?”

“Because… I said no” Hunk said. Lance groaned in response, going back to ogling the poor guy.

“Fine,” he said eventually. A smirk began to form on his face, and Hunk watched in dismay. “But I can’t do anything if he decides to hit on me. After all, who can resist _this_ ,” he said, using a hand to gesture up and down himself. Allura snorted, and Lance only winked at her.

“I’ll win you over in time, princess,” he said confidently, but they both knew that it was said without any conviction. Lance had moved on, and had begun to think of Allura more as a cousin anyways.

But the violet eyed tattoo artist was certainly not off limits, no matter what Hunk said. It was only a matter of time before he won him over.

~~~

It was the annual tattoo night, the night that Keith dreaded the most of all. When Shiro had first proposed the prospect all those months ago, Keith had laughed until his sides hurt. They would host a library staff? Why would old ladies want to get tatted?

But Shiro had gone ahead and accepted the offer from the local library, and that Friday night, the small parlor was filled with men and women of various ages, all looking excited at getting new tattoos.

It wasn’t that Keith found the people obnoxious, it was more the sheer size of the staff. And with each recurring ‘tattoo night’ as they called it, the staff expanded until they were forced to use the back room as well.

Tonight, Keith was running late on the account that Shiro had asked him to pick up a new shipment of ink from the post office.

He could hear the laughter before he even walked in, spying a large circle of people with black cards in their hands.

Keith stood on the sidewalk a beat longer, watching the scene unfolded. He couldn’t make out the words, but a large man stood up, throwing his cards down. He angrily pointed a finger at a tan skinned guy, who was grinning smugly.

Huh. Keith hadn’t seen him before. Through the frosted glass of the window, Keith gave him a once over. The guy seemed to be about his age, maybe half a year younger, definitely taller than him.

It would have been Keith’s preference to stand out here and watch from the outside, but the July heat was getting to him. Shiro gave him crap about dressing in all black even in July, but Keith had only replied that he didn’t mind the extra heat that the dark fabric absorbed. Right now, though? He minded it very much.

Striding in, he breathed a sigh as the cool AC washed over him. One of the few things he liked about this building was how cold the AC was able to go.

Pulling off his helmet, he felt a set of eyes on him, and the tan skinned guy was now the one checking him out.

He scowled in his direction, annoyed at the attention. Keith was tempted to shoot a snide remark in his direction, but he knew that if he did that, he would get the disappointed dad face from Shiro. And honestly? Keith would do just about anything to avoid that face.

So, he bit his tongue, tucked his helmet and the package under his arm, and made his way to the back room. And the whole way there, he felt the stranger’s eyes on him.

 _Please let Shiro be the one to do his tattoo_ , he thought quietly, sending up the plea to whomever was listening.

Unfortunately, either no one was listening up there, or the fates had it out for Keith.

~~~

Along with Allura and Hunk, Pidge, the little gremlin that she was, had also noticed where Lance’s gaze had been fixed.

“His name is Keith,” she whispered to him with a knowing smirk.

The card game was long forgotten, over half of the staff abandoning it in favor of watching Shiro finish up Plaxum’s galaxy tattoo. It was a rule that newcomers got first dibs, and this was Plaxum’s first night attending as well.

That meant either Lance or Pidge were up next, now that the other tattoo artist had arrived.

Lance nodded absentmindedly, his nerves starting to get the better of him. He was well aware that tattoos were extremely painful, and his pain tolerance wasn’t the best.

“…luckily for you.”

“What?” Lance asked, only now realizing that the short blonde was talking to him. He hoped it wasn't important.

Pidge rolled her eyes, and opened her mouth to repeat whatever she had been saying when a voice called out, “Lance McClain,” in a bored tone.

Standing up, he gave Hunk a nervous smile, and the big guy sent him a thumbs up.

It ended up being Keith who had called his name, and Lance felt his heart thump in his chest, and not from nerves.

Keith was shorter than he was, and rolled his eyes as he was forced to look up at Lance.

Follow me,” he said in the same bored tone, and Lance thanked every saint that he could think of that Shiro was busy.

Keith directed him to a chair, and Lance awkwardly perched on the edge as Keith began to ready the tools necessary.

He had meant to look around the room, he really had, but his eyes demanded to observe the man with the mullet, and who was Lance to deny his eyes what they wanted?

Despite the horrible hair choice, Keith was attractive, simply put. He had a single sleeve of tattoos, made up of various images and icons. From far off, it seemed like it was just a jumble of designs, but if you looked closely, you could see what it really was.

It was the solar system. The sun on his left wrist, the line of planets trailing up his arm, dotted with stars in between.

Neptune was half hidden by his shirt sleeve, and Lance was willing to put money on Pluto being present. Keith seemed like the guy to still believe that Pluto was a planet. Hell, Lance still defended Pluto’s planet rank. It actually happened to be one of his common debate topics with Pidge.

Tight black jeans matched the tight black shirt, and Lance was silently begging for him to turn around to see if they outlined his abs as well.

Lance shifted back in the chair, relaxing a bit more. The tattoo he had chosen was simple, and it would be over quickly. His hands were shoved in his pockets, fingering the scrap of paper that he had the design on.

If he was going to get a tattoo, he knew that he wanted it to be this. And if his mama ever found out, it was something that he would get the least amount of shit for. He hoped.

His nerves were back in full force, watching as Keith prepared the needles.

When everything was finally ready, Keith wordlessly turned around and sat down on the stool next to the chair.

“So,” he drawled. “What exactly do you want done?”

With a faltering smile, Lance dug out the slip of paper. Seven words were written on it, the seven words that had kept him going for as long as he could remember.

Handing it over to Keith, he watched as a single dark eyebrow got raised, and violet eyes widened a fraction of an inch.

“I’m not even going to pretend I know what this says,” he said, looking up at Lance.

Lance barked out a laugh at the unexpected comment. “It’s Spanish.”

Keith nodded, his eyes once more back on the paper.

“Can you do it on a fancy cursive script? Like,” Lance looked around for an example. There were pictures of tattoos posted all over the walls, and he searched for something that would match what he wanted. “That,” he said, pointing an image when he finally found something that resembled what he was picturing in his mind.

Keith nodded again. “Where do you want it?” Lance stuck out his left arm, upturned so that the inside of his wrist was visible. Keith made a face, examining his arm.

“Got it,” he said, all business. His ire from earlier seemed to have been forgotten, and now he only seemed focused on the job at hand.

Keith set to work, placing the slip of paper containing the quote off to the side, but still within easy access.

When the needle first touched his arm, Lance’s shout could be heard all through the parlor.

~~~

Keith winced as Lance’s loud scream met his ears. The needle had barely touched him, and he was already giving this reaction. Great.

Red colored tan as Lance’s shout finally caught up with him. Keith met his eyes, and Lance’s bush only seemed to grow more.

“It was cold,” Lance mumbled, and for the first time since library tattoo night became a thing, Keith smirked.

“Yeah, okay,” he shot back, enjoying the way that Lance started to protest, but bit his lip to keep in a moan when Keith pressed the needle back down again.

Keith worked in silence, every now and then looking up to check how Lance was fairing. Despite his initial cry, he seemed to be okay.

“This wasn’t exactly what I thought I would be doing for you,” he said quietly, now about halfway through. As soon as the words left his lips, he froze. He had just broken his personal rule: never make small talk with the customers. Dammit.

If Lance noticed the way he stalled, he didn’t make a comment about it.

“Really?” Keith could practically hear the grin that Lance was sporting. “What did you think I’d pick?”

“Something cartoonish. Maybe a Pokémon?”

Keith looked up just in time to see Lance gaping at him, and it took a considerable amount of willpower to keep his laugh in.

“Excuse you!” Keith could feel as he began to pull away, and clamped a hand down on Lance’s arm. He didn’t want him to get hurt in his haste. Lance stilled, and Keith resumed his work.

“I’ll have you know that Pokémon are great, and that is what I’ll be getting next time.” His voice was quieter, more subdued. Keith took it as a good sign.

Neither one of them spoke as Keith finished up the tattoo, snapping a quick picture before applying the ointment and dressing.

Lance watched on, his blue eyes fixed on the inside of his wrist.

Keith went through the speech that he was required to give about aftercare and infection, and Lance bobbed his head along to the words. About halfway through, Keith had to look away and focus on the floor instead. The look that Lance was currently giving him only ever led to bad things, and Keith didn’t trust himself to continue to look at him.

“Thanks man,” Lance said, standing up when Keith had finished the ordeal.

They were nearly at the front of the parlor when Lance spoke again. “You know, I really like the sleeve you’ve got.” Keith glanced down at the sleeve in question, and was prepared to respond when Lance finished the rest of the line. “Maybe some other time I can see if you’ve got anymore in _other_ places,” followed by a wink.

Keith froze. Was he…? Yes, he was. “Sorry, I can’t fraternize with customers,” he blurted out.

Lance’s smile dropped, and he glanced over his shoulder. “Is that company policy or personal policy?”

Keith followed to where Lance’s gaze was currently focused on Shiro and Allura making out in the other ‘private’ room.

Keith groaned. Dammit, Shiro. Keep your hands to yourself for once.

“Personal,” he bit out.

Lance shrugged. “Maybe you’ll consider breaking that rule just this once?”

 _I’ve already broken enough personal rules for you_ , Keith thought. “Not a chance,” he said instead, a forced smile on his face.

He watched as Lance deflated slightly, and returned back to the front of the parlor.

Keith leaned back against the wooden post holding up the roof, letting out a breath, begging his heart to calm down.

~~~

Lance returned to the front of the parlor, where another game of Cards Against Humanity had picked up. This time Pidge was winning, and he tapped her on the shoulder to let her know that it was her time to get inked.

There was a wicked grin on her face, and Lance struggled to remember how old you had to be to get a tattoo. Whatever it was, Pidge most definitely was pushing the age restriction.

Allura was still elsewhere with Shiro, and Lance made a disgusted face. He was all for PDA when it involved him. Other people? Not so much.

Hunk gave him a sympathetic look when he saw Lance’s slumped shoulders.

“It’s not over yet,” Lance said simply, lacking the normal conviction that usually laced his tone whenever he had been rejected.

“If you say so buddy,” Hunk said as he clamped a hand down on Lance’s shoulder. “Now, let’s see your tattoo.”

Lance grinned at him, spirits immediately picking back up. “Nu uh,” he taunted. “Can’t take of the bandaging for a week. Gotta wait.”

Hunk groaned, and they spent the rest of the evening throwing banter back and forth and enjoying themselves. Hunk didn't end up getting his tattoo that night, claiming he was saving it for next time.

~~~

It was one o’clock in the morning when the library staff finally cleared out, and Keith slumped over the counter.

“Why do we do this again?” he asked, words muffled by the fact that his face was buried in the crook of his arm.

“Because it pays well and we have fun,” Shiro replied.

Keith picked his head up, glaring at the other tattoo artist. “Or is it because you can make out with Allura in the backroom?”

Shiro’s back was to him, but Keith didn’t miss the way he stiffened. “That’s… an added benefit,” Shiro said carefully.

“Mhm.”

Shiro was facing him once again, a bashful smile on his face. “Hey, one day you’ll find someone to make out with in the backroom.”

Keith groaned, hiding his face once more lest Shiro see the blush creeping up his cheeks.

“Oh right,” Shiro said with an accompanying snort. “Forgot about your ‘personal rule’.”

Keith was tempted to tell him about Lance, but decided not to. After all, he had rejected him. And it was highly unlikely that he’ll ever see him again, so really, there was no point in describing yet another love fails. One that was firmly pinned on Keith.

But Shiro always had a knack for figuring things out, and with what Keith suspected was feigned nonchalance, he offhandedly asked, “What about that tanned skinned guy? Lance, I think his name was?”

Keith slid to the ground, wishing that the library staff didn’t know about tattoos in the first place.

~~~

“Lance, if you like him so much, just go to the tattoo parlor and say that you had questions about the after treatment of the tattoo,” Allura suggested with an annoyed huff.

Lance sighed dramatically, closing the book that he was ‘reading’ with a soft _thump_. “I can’t do that, then I seem desperate,” he whined. And then realized the implication of Allura’s words, and raised an eyebrow suggestively. “Is that what you did?”

Her blush was answer enough. Lance chuckled. They were an admittedly cute couple, even if they had been seconds away from devouring each other’s faces last Friday.

“If it gets you to shut up, I can get Shiro to bring him here.”

Lance’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, and he waved his arms frantically. “No, nope, you can’t do that!” He was half out of his seat behind the desk, and a library patron had the audacity to shush him.

The Cuban grinned sheepishly in her direction, but turned his panicked eyes back to Allura.

“Don’t you dare,” he stage whispered when he saw her unlocked phone in her hand. She grinned mischievously at him.

“Or what?” Lance’s heart nearly stopped when he saw her begin to type. “He is perfect for you Lance. Why are you complaining?”

His mind was whirling as he struggled to formulate an answer. “I just -- you don’t understand,” he said finally.

Allura’s face softened and she put the phone down. “Okay, Lance, have it your way.”

He nodded, putting his head in his hands. How could he explain it to her? That more than anything he wanted to go out with this guy that he barely knew, but didn’t think that he would get another chance? Or that he was a coward, scared that things might go somewhere and he would get his heart broken down the line? It was better this way, for Lance to admire from afar and not get attached. Because he knew, deep inside him, that if he let himself fall for those gorgeous violet eyes, that he would never recover.

~~~

“Hey Keith,” Shiro had called. Keith lifted his head from where he was working on someone’s calf tattoo, setting the tattoo machine aside.

“When you finish up with that job, I need you to run to the library. I’m swamped, and Allura accidentally took my lunch this morning.”

Keith froze. “You want me to go to the library?” he called back slowly, making sure that he had heard Shiro correctly.

“Yup.”

Something that Keith couldn’t name began to pull at the pit of his stomach. “And you’re sure that you can’t do it?”

Shiro poked his head around the corner, looking annoyed. “Please just go pick it up Keith.”

Keith opened his mouth to protest, but Shiro interjected. “When you’re done with this job, please,” and then he was gone before Keith could get a word in edgewise.

Silently fuming, he was a tad bit rougher than strictly necessary in finishing up the tattoo, wrapping it as slowly as he could. This was his last client until four o’clock, leaving him with roughly a four-hour break. He’d offer to take one of Shiro’s clients, but people were weirdly particular when they were choosing who they wanted to do their tattoos.

The lady thanked him, leaving with a slight limp in her step.

Keith debated in his mind whether he should actually follow through with Shiro’s request. It wasn’t required of him to pick up the lunch that Shiro’s girlfriend accidentally took like it was for him to pick up packages from the post office. But Shiro had done so much for him, and it was only a short ride there and back. He could be in and out, and not have to face Lance at all. Who knew if he was even working, certainly not Keith.

With that reassuring thought in mind, he tugged his motorcycle helmet on, and sped off towards the local library.

~~~

It was Wednesday, meaning that Plaxum would be there to teach her writing class in the auxiliary room. She was fairly pretty, and had seemed interested in Lance in the past. Maybe he would ask her out today.

He didn’t care about Keith at all. Nope, that tattoo artist with the stunning violet eyes was nothing more than a memory. He had shot his shot, and gotten rejected. It was time to move on.

That was all before Keith had walked into the library, looking deliciously windblown in his tight jeans and cropped red jacket.

Lance let out an embarrassing squeak, and ducked behind the counter. Allura was nowhere to be found, and Lance fumed at her silently. He thought that she hadn’t sent the text, but she must have when he wasn’t watching.

Footfalls came closer, and Lance was close to fainting.

“Um… hello?” said someone. Lance didn’t need to look up to know that Keith was now leaning over the counter.

Lance swallowed, and smiled.

Bouncing up, he pretended to be startled to see someone there. “Oh, hey, didn’t see ya,” he said flippantly, as if his heart wasn’t threatening to jackhammer its way out of his chest. “Dropped this,” he said, gesturing with the book in his hand that had been conveniently knocked onto the floor a moment previous.

“Oh,” replied Keith, looking a bit startled. He scratched at his head nervously. “I’m just here to pick up Shiro’s lunch. Allura took it by accident.”

 _Accident my ass,_ thought Lance. Keith was staring at him expectantly and Lance realized that he had been staring into space.

“Oh, sorry, I’ll just dart to the staff room and grab it,” he said, stumbling over his words.

He was halfway out from behind the counter when he realized he was the only one there. Shit.

“I, um, can’t leave the counter if I’m the only one here,” he said awkwardly. Keith looked just as awkward.

“Lemme just send a text to Hunk and he’ll bring it out.” _If he’s here today_.

Lance drummed his fingers on the counter, shifting his weight from foot to foot while keeping an eye on his phone. He let out an exhale when he got a response text from Hunk.

Hunkster: **gimme five and I’ll have it right out**

Hunkster: **haha sorry this is funny**

“Cool, so Hunk will be right out.”

“Sounds good.”

Both boys nodded awkwardly, trying (and failing) not to look at each other.

~~~

Of all people, of course he ran into the one person he was hoping he wouldn’t see. Keith had seen the library staff, there were plenty of them! But no, Keith had to run into Lance.

They stood on either side of a counter, Lance impatiently drumming his fingers on the wood as they waited for Hunk. Keith couldn’t help but notice that Lance still had the bandage on his arm covering his tattoo, and he couldn’t stop his mouth as he asked him about it.

“How come you haven’t taken off the bandage yet?”

Lance looked surprised, widening his eyes before flicking them down to his wrist.

“I was going to wait until I got home, but I suppose I could unwrap it now.” Lance looked at Keith, as if searching for confirmation that this was okay.

Keith nodded. He wanted to see how it looked; he rarely saw his clients after he sent them on their way, unless they were coming back for another tattoo. This was new for him.

Lance unwrapped it gingerly, and slowly, the black ink came into view. The same uncomprehensible seven words were there, the skin only slightly red around the ink.

“It looks good,” Keith commented.

“Yeah,” Lance said quietly. “It does.” The tan skinned boy let out a small laugh, and Keith had trouble swallowing around the sudden lump in his throat. “It’s almost as if I didn’t think it would still be there after I unwrapped it.”

“Are you glad it’s there?”

Lance nodded, slowly, as if he wasn’t quite in the present. Instead, living in some far-off memory, perhaps the memory where the quote had come from.

Heavy footfalls grew increasingly louder, and Keith looked up to find a hulking man moving at a great speed towards them.

He thrust a cool package into Keith’s hands, and Keith stumbled back a step from the force of it.

“Shiro’s lunch, ready for transportation.”

“Thanks, Hunk?”

The man, Hunk, nodded, beaming. “Smells really good,” he commented. And then, “Oh yeah, forgot to say, I teach a culinary class here.”

“Ah,” replied Keith, relaxing. Hunk was open and friendly, normally not the type of people Keith was quick to interact with, but he found himself liking Hunk.

Turning back to Lance, he saw that the tanned skinned boy was watching them interact with a small smile.

“So, I guess I’ll be going,” Keith said, not moving at all. He held his breath, wondering if Lance was going to try again. _Please try again_.

“See ya,” Lance said instead, giving him a small wave.

Keith felt his heart plummet, and offered a tight-lipped smile as he made his way quickly out of the library.

 _It doesn’t matter_ , he told himself as he buckled Shiro’s lunch into his side bag. _I didn’t like him anyways_.

It was the wind in his eyes that caused the liquid to stream down his face. Yeah, it was the wind.

~~~

“Dude, that was your chance!” Hunk all but screamed. Several people made the shushing noise, and Hunk flinched slightly. “Why didn’t you ask for his number?” he said in a whisper yell this time.

Lance shrugged, feeling rather dejected. “I don’t know,” he said honestly. He had wanted to – damn did he want to. But the words had never left his mouth, instead sending Keith off with a small wave.

“He was into you!” Hunk said in the same whisper shout.

“Was he, though?”

“Yes!” Hunk said, voice rising in volume yet again. He was shaking his head, looking at Lance through squinted eyes. “It’s on you this time.” Hunk began to walk away, pausing after he had taken only a few steps.

Looking over his shoulder, he shook his head once more before walking the rest of the way back to the staff room.

Lance groaned, burying his face in his hands. It had been the perfect opportunity, and he hadn’t done anything! A cheesy pick-up line would have been better than sending him off with that awkward wave. And what if Hunk was right? Did Keith really look like he was into him?

No. There was absolutely no way Keith was into him. He had that stupid policy about not dating customers, and while Lance wasn’t a customer anymore, he was fairly certain it still applied to him.

He was going to pick his head up, forget about Keith and his stupidly pretty eyes, and ask out Plaxum. Yes, that was what he was going to do.

Allura had come back to her spot at the desk next to him, and before she could ask how her nefarious plan had gone, Lance had informed her that he was taking a break.

He marched all the way to the staff room with a determined look on his face, stopping only long enough to ensure that he was alone with her.

One cheesy pick up line later, the two were exchanging phone numbers and making plans to go out to dinner that Friday night.

So why did Lance have a distinct feeling of wrongness as he did all of this?

~~~

“Your plan didn’t work!” Keith called as he walked back into the tattoo parlor, the door slamming shut behind him hard enough that the frosted glass rattled in its frame.

Shiro came around to the front, looking confused. “What plan?”

Keith huffed. “Don’t be coy with me. Your plan to set me up with Lance by sending me to the library.”

Shiro looked even more confused now. “I don’t remember asking you to go and talk with Lance. All I wanted was my lunch.” He snagged it from where Keith had thrown it on the counter. “Thanks, by the way.”

Keith sneered. He couldn’t tell if Shiro was being sincere or not, but at this point he didn’t care. _Can’t pin this one on me_ , he thought in annoyance.

Shiro was digging in, looking down at his phone now, and Keith watched as his face morphed from confusion to realization.

“Oh, dude, I am so sorry. No, I wasn’t trying to set you up with Lance at all. Allura just explained what happened on her end and—”

Keith didn’t wait to hear the end of his sentence, stomping to the backroom. He had had enough with incompetent boys and meddling friends. He was fine by himself, thank you very much.

But as he sat alone in the backroom, surrounded by shiny metal and pictures of tattoos, Keith wished that he wasn’t so alone.

~~~

Lance was fixing his hair in the mirror for the umpteenth time when he heard a crash in the hall.

“What was that?” he called out, not sure he wanted to know the answer.

“Nothing!” Pidge called, and Lance decided that he _really_ did not want to know the answer.

“Better not have been anything of mine,” he called out in a warning tone. He was going to kill her if she had broken into his room. Again.

“Just go have fun on your date!” called Hunk, a bitter note in his words. Lance made a face at the empty hallway. Hunk definitely did not approve of his date.

He had recently moved in with Pidge and Hunk, since his mama had insisted that he get his own apartment now that he was eighteen. They had all talked about getting a place together for college, and it just worked out. He hadn’t counted on Pidge being as nosy as she was, or Hunk’s loud morning singing, though.

But he loved them, and wouldn’t even consider moving in with anyone else. Even if the little gremlin had a bad habit of breaking into his room.

“Bye, guys!” he called, pausing on the threshold of their apartment.

“BYE!”

“Don’t bring her back here for sex!”

The two replies came at the same time, and Lance frowned at the sex comment coming from Hunk. He would have expected Pidge to say that, but Hunk? He really was bitter about him fucking it up with Keith. Whatever. Lance was happy with Plaxum. This feeling was happiness, right?

And then he was out the door and into the August humidity. His beat-up Corolla was waiting for him on the street down below, still a shiny blue refusing to show the years it had on it.

Plaxum had texted her address to Lance, and he plugged it into Google Maps before cruising down the road. He was worried that she wouldn’t enjoy his music taste, so he drove in silence lest he get into a song that was still playing when he arrived. The crack in the window just wide enough to give him the desired wind-blown hairdo.

She didn’t say much as she got into his car, making no comment on his hair. He complimented hers, as well as the top she had on, and she had only given him a small smile. Didn’t matter; he had all night to impress her.

But even he had to admit that the atmosphere was uncomfortable as they pulled up to the restaurant. He had meant to open her door for her, but she beat him to the punch, giving him a look as he shoved his hands into his jean pockets. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t teleport over to the other side of the car! She could wait thirty seconds if it was that important.

Lance groaned internally. This was already off to a bad start.

This was one of his favorite restaurants, and he had put a lot on the line by taking her here. His brother was the head chef here, and could get Lance a nice discount. But with that discount came the risk of his brother embarrassing Lance, and Lance had warned him the night before.

Jeremy was usually pretty cool, but Lance could never be too careful.

A waiter led them to their table, one that happened to be right by the entrance. Lance would have preferred to be further away from the people traffic, but he would take what he could get.

Plaxum, however, was another story. She had her nose turned up and was squinting down at everything.

As the dinner wore on, Lance was feeling better. They had managed to strike up a conversation, and he had even gotten her to laugh at one of her jokes. But as it came to a close, Plaxum began to talk more and more about herself, her ambitions, her career, her, her, her.

Lance wouldn’t have minded it if he had been able to contribute to the conversation at all. Currently, she was going on about the time she had accidentally gotten a jellyfish stuck to the top of her head, and Lance had to cover his yawn with his hand. A quick glance at his watch told him that it was only a quarter past eight. Great.

Finally, Lance paid, ushering her out the door. Jeremy had poked his head out of the kitchen just long enough to give Lance a sympathetic look as Lance drug one finger over his neck while he stuck his tongue out.

If it was at all possible, the car ride back to where Plaxum lived was even more awkward. She hummed along to a song that Lance didn’t know, and when he tried to turn on the radio, thinking _fuck it if she doesn’t like what I listen to he couldn’t take the silence any longer_ , she had grabbed his hand in a death grip and not let go. He couldn't feel his pinky any more.

It had taken five minutes to convince her that neither one of them could get out of the car if she didn’t let go.

Lance had been ready to speed away from the curb, but he was a gentleman so he walked her to her door. Where she attacked him with her mouth, and he had to fight back the urge to throw up.

When was this mess of a date going to end?

~~~

Shiro, yet again, had Keith picking up food. At least this time it was from the nicer restaurant on the north side of town.

As Keith waited for the waiter to bring out his bag of to go food, he let his eyes scan around the place. He had been here a few times before, and thoroughly enjoyed their steak.

And then his eyes landed on Lance, and the breath whooshed out of his lungs. He was there with another girl, and she was giggling at something he said while he grinned at her.

Keith felt a flare of anger rise up in his core, and then annoyance at the anger. He had no reason to be mad, let alone _jealous_ at Lance being on a date with another girl. He had talked to the guy a total of twice, and both times he had been rude.

No, that wasn’t quite true. It would have been easier if Lance had been rude. But he had been funny, if a bit awkward, and he couldn’t get those stupid blue eyes out of his head.

The waiter came back out just as Keith made a silent vow to himself that he would forget all about Lance. He could do so much better than some tan skinned idiot who used lame pick-up lines.

Lance didn’t notice him, and Keith left the restaurant more than just a little hurt.

~~~

Shiro looked up as Keith slammed the two bags of food on the counter of Keith’s apartment.

“I hate him,” he said, bunching his hands into fists. “I just—how dare he—why her—” Keith was stumbling over his words in his haste to get them all out, and ended up just settling for a guttural noise when he couldn’t find the words to express how he was feeling.

Shiro got up from the couch, and both of them will swear it never happened if asked about later, and wrapped Keith in a hug. He didn’t need to ask to know who Keith was talking about.

“It’s okay,” he said soothingly.

When Keith had finally managed to calm down enough to form a coherent sentence, he asked quietly for his food.

Shiro pulled it out of the bag, and the two of them settled into content silence as they watched TV.

Neither of them spoke his name.

~~~

In a mirror image to a month previous, Allura was grinning up at Lance, that same devious glint in her eyes.

Lance mentally checked what day it was, and groaned when he recognized what that glint meant.

“It’s tattoo night again?”

“Yup,” she all but squealed. Her grin faded. “You’re going, right?” she asked, concern littering her British accent.

Lance sighed. “Ask me again in an hour.”

Allura didn’t bother him all day as he debated it internally. It had been great last time, and it was guaranteed that he would see Keith there. He was one of two tattoo artists, so he had to be there for a night like tonight. He didn’t want another tattoo (couldn’t afford one, more like), but the pizza was free and smoking everyone in Cards Against Humanity needed to happen again. And no matter what, Hunk, Pidge, and Allura would all be there, so it couldn’t be that bad. Right?

Allura had left her white hair down today, and it cascaded in waves down her back. He plopped into the chair next to her, a grin forming on his face before he could stop it. “I guess I’m going to tattoo night!”

Her answering smile was so bright it nearly blinded him.

~~~

“I’m sick,” Keith said, coughing into the phone.

Shiro sighed on the other end. “Keith, if you’re going to pretend to be sick, at least cough more convincingly.”

Keith made a face, even though Shiro couldn’t see it. “That was a very convincing cough, thank you very much.” He coughed again to demonstrate.

“He won’t even be there tonight. So, suck it up and get your ass to work.” Shiro hung up the phone, and Keith stuck out his tongue at it.

 _That’s what you said when you asked me to pick up your lunch at the library_ , he would have said had Shiro not hung up. Keith made a mental note to say that to other tattoo artist when he saw him later.

Fuck. Just thinking that meant he conceded to go into work. Dammit.

The last thing that he wanted was to be there until one a.m. in the morning tattooing librarians.

But it kept the lights on, and they gave him free pizza.

Keith groaned, hating how nothing ever seemed to work out for him.

~~~

If déjà vu was a person, it would be Keith.

He showed up exactly the same way he had come the first time, arriving late on a motorcycle, shaking out his hair as he stepped into the parlor. Dazzling violet met calm blue, and Lance was going to faint.

But Keith stalked past him without a word, making his way to the back of the shop. Allura met Lance’s eye, giving him a pitying look. He waved her off, putting on a confident look. That brush by didn’t hurt at all. Not. One. Bit.

There were a few newcomers that were getting their first tattoos and served first, employees that had been at the library for some time but not brave enough to get a tattoo yet.

Lance watched with slight envy as Hunk’s name was called and he saluted Lance before disappearing.

An idea popped into his head, and Lance bit his lip as he thought about it. Hunk had said that he was okay with Lance being there when he got his tattoo. But that was before it was Keith that had called the big guy back.

However, Hunk had known that Keith was a possibility. He had known that he might be the one, and he still extended the offer to Lance.

With his mind made up, he set his cards down, and made his way to the backroom, checking every now and then to make sure he looked okay. This was big, and he needed to look his best.

~~~

There he was, that stupid idiot. In the exact same position, staring the exact same way. If desire was a person, it would be Lance McClain.

Those same stupid eyes, always seeking him out whenever they happened to meet. That same obnoxious smile, radiating confidence and cockiness. The same exact falter in his mask when Keith brushed past him without a word.

Ha. Serves him right for hitting on Keith and then going out with another girl.

 _You rejected him_ , nagged a little voice in the back of his head. _Shut up_ , he told it. He had a job to do, and that was to not fuck up the permanent ink that he was about to put on people’s skin. Shiro was okay with him coming in a half an hour later—that was Keith’s deal for showing up tonight.

The first thing he did was drop off his helmet in the staff room, and search out Shiro. He popped his head in the second private room, the one that Shiro normally worked in, and found him working on a leg tat. It was for a man that Keith recognized to be Kolivan, a regular at these nights. It must have been his first tat, considering that he was the first one up. From here, it appeared to be some kind of knife.

Keith was going to deliver the line he had wanted to say earlier, but one warning look from Shiro was enough to make the words shrivel up and die on his tongue.

“Just wanted to pop in and uh,” Keith cleared his throat, “say hey.”

Shiro nodded, giving him one last long stare.

Keith ducked out, feeling heat bloom on his cheeks. Shiro had a tendency to make Keith get back into line with only a look, something that he thankfully didn’t exercise very often.

Grabbing his clipboard from the front desk, he scanned the list of clients. Lance, thankfully, wasn’t on his list. He did, however, recognize one name on the list.

“Hunk Garret?” A familiar form stood up, and Keith kept his eyes trained on Hunk, and not the person sitting next to Hunk.

He chatted with him as they walked back towards the room, about what Hunk wanted and where. Yet again, he was breaking his personal rule of not talking to the clients unless necessary. But with Hunk, it was hard not to have a friendly conversation. At least this time Keith knew talking to him wouldn't lead to heartbreak. It was a fairly simple tattoo, on his forearm. Keith held his breath for a moment, waiting to see if Hunk was going to pick the same spot as his friend. He didn’t, instead picking his right arm, parallel to where Keith had Venus on his left arm.

Keith set to work, keeping up an easy conversation. He was worried that the conversation might stray to his tan friend, but Hunk kept Keith engaged in every topic but the asshole.

If he hadn’t been such good friends with Lance, Keith could see a good future friendship.

He was currently laying the stencil out on Hunk’s arm when someone cleared their throat from the doorway.

“Just a moment,” Keith muttered, keeping his attention focused on the task at hand. When the stencil was laid out and a warm washcloth was pressed over it, Keith cast a glance over his shoulder.

”What are you doing?” Keith asked before he could stop himself.

Lance was leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe, watching his friend get prepared with mild interest.

“Hunk asked me to be here,” he said calmly, as if he had no idea what he was doing to Keith’s chest.

Keith glanced back at Hunk, who gave him a sheepish smile and shrugged one shoulder.

He wanted to be mad at the guy, he really did, but Keith couldn’t bring himself to be upset with him. It wasn’t his fault that his friend had the tendencies of a jackass.

“Just stay quiet and sit on the stool,” he said, forcing as much ice as possible into his words. He gestured over his shoulder at the stool in the corner, and he listened as Lance moved across the room.

Ignoring him was much easier said than done. He wasn’t saying anything, he wasn’t even making any noise _breathing_ , but Keith could feel his presence and that was enough to throw him off his game. He sorely wished that he was having as much of an effect on Lance that he was having on him.

~~~

Watching Keith work was like watching Da Vinci paint. He was a master at what he was doing, all focus on the small patch of skin inches from his face. Keith switched colors flawlessly, making sure that Hunk was okay every few minutes.

There was something about him that made all of Lance’s awful one-liners dry up in his throat, choking him from the inside out. It was so quiet in the room that he was fairly certain that both Hunk and Keith could hear his erratic heartbeat.

He only prayed that he was inflicting just as much emotion on Keith that Keith forced onto him.

As he watched him press dye into Hunk, Lance thought back to his wreck of a date that had only been last week.

Plaxum had called three times in the hour after Lance had separated himself from her by force, asking about when they were going out next.

Lance had never been one with words, and had awkwardly explained to her that he hadn’t really felt a connection, and that he truthfully never wanted to see her or hear her again. He had stated it far more eloquently than that, but she had quit her job at the library the next day. Allura had given him a look when he came in for his next shift, but he played innocent.

Halfway through dinner that night, Lance had caught a glimpse of a familiar mullet. When he finally managed to spare a glance over to where he had seen the awful hair last, it was gone. But even that mere image had been enough to send far more emotion travelling down his core than Plaxum had managed in an hour and a half.

It was then that Lance knew how badly he had fucked up by not asking for a certain tattoo artist’s number.

He was still watching Keith work, muscles rippling as he drew on skin. Currently, Lance’s attention was focused on the arm covered in planets and stars.

Each planet was vibrant in color, and Jupiter even had a few of its moons inked onto Keith’s skin. Lance, an astronomy major, had to appreciate the accuracy in the spacing and coloring of each of the planets. He knew that the stars were not nearly that close to Earth, but he admired the aesthetic appeal of it all. It was a work of art, and Lance had to wonder if Keith had done it himself since it was on his left arm, or if Shiro had done it.

Keith spoke, breaking the silence. “Lance, you need to leave if I am going to do this tattoo properly.”

What? Why?” Lance protested, shooting to his feet. “I haven’t done anything!”

“Just leave.” The words were visibly forced. Lance was able to tell that there was serious tension in Keith from the way his back was locked up and how his arms hung at his sides.

He glanced at Hunk, who was looking worriedly between him and Keith.

“Fine,” he said, intending to leave with a huff, but instead going quietly.

Allura and Pidge both looked up at him when he returned to the main room, Allura looking sympathetic and Pidge wearing an ‘I told you so’ look. He ignored both of them, slouching down in the chair.

He didn’t move again, not even to mop the floor with the other librarians’ asses at Cards Against Humanity, until Hunk came out.

He bent down, face a grimace, to speak softly into Lance’s ear.

“Go talk to him,” he said, no room for contradiction in his voice.

Lance rolled his eyes. He had had it up to _here_ with Keith. First, he rejects him, and then the whole deal at the library, and then ignoring him yet again.

Keith was leaning against the chair designated for the people getting tattooed, arms crossed over his chest.

“Why?” he asked simply when Lance had shut the door behind him.

He didn’t need to ask what he meant. Lance swallowed hard before he spoke, hoping to remove as much emotion from his voice as possible.

“I wanted to ask you out again that day. But I didn’t want to get rejected all over again.”

Lance’s eyes were firmly locked on the ground, stained with ink and other fluids he didn’t want to identify.

“Really? You didn’t want to be rejected? Is that why you went out with her? Because you didn’t want to be rejected by me, even though I was clearly waiting for you to just ask?!”

Lance’s head snapped up. “How did you know about that?”

Keith chuckled, a cruel sound. “I happened to be picking up dinner. And you were there, laughing with her.” There was heartbreak in his voice, and Lance wanted to do nothing more but stride over and kiss him. Hard.

“I didn’t want her. At all. I was trying to get you out of my head, and—” Lance broke off with a frustrated groan, closing the distance between them with three easy steps.

Keith sucked in a breath, arms falling slack at his sides. Lance didn’t even pause as he took the shorter boy’s face with both his hands, and kissed him.

~~~

Keith watched as Lance broke off, despair on his face. But that despair changed into firm resolve, and Keith sucked in a breath as Lance closed the distance between them, placing two warm hands on either side of his face. _Woah_.

And then he was kissing him. Keith would have melted into the floor if Lance didn’t have a firm grip on him.

He was too stunned to respond for a moment, but when his brain finally caught up with what was happening, Lance was pulling back.

Keith stared at him, startling violet meeting fierce cerulean.

“Go out with me?” Lance breathed, hope evident in his words. There were so many expressions and emotions flitting over his face that Keith had a hard time reading all of them. He wasn't good with reading body language as it was, and being with Lance was making it impossible to even think straight. Not that he thought straight; he preferred to think gay.

Lance was still waiting for an answer, his face sinking as each moment passed.

“Yes,” Keith finally breathed back, and the smile that broke out on Lance’s face could have outshone the sun.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith go out on their first date together. Fluff ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up, kiddies. This is about to be an emotional roller coaster.

“I really can’t fuck this up. This is way too important!” Lance was hysterical, clutching at his hair. His fingers were buried all the way to his scalp, strands of hair poking out between his fingers. It was the first time Lance and Keith were going out, and Lance was determined not to have another disastrous date.

“Buddy, calm down,” Hunk said in what he hoped was a soothing tone. He was rubbing slow circles on Lance’s back while Lance breathed in and out in rapid fashion.

“Breathe.” Lance forced himself to slow his breathing, breathing in for four seconds, holding for seven, and breathing out for eight. He repeated these steps three more times, stopping when he could finally breathe on his own.

“Thanks, Hunk,” he said weakly.

It had been a week since Lance had kissed Keith in the tattoo parlor, where Keith had agreed to go out on a date with him. The earliest either one of the could do was tonight, the following Saturday. Since Lance had been the one to ask Keith out, he was in charge of planning the date. Which is what he was currently panicking over.

Lance had spent the better part of the week planning the date, all the way from where they would be eating dinner to what they would be doing after. He had recruited help from Allura and Shiro as to what Keith would like, and what restaurant would be appropriate. Allura had helped him plan the details for the half of the date that would happen after they had dinner, and Lance had felt confident about it then.

Until now. Now, he was freaking out, thinking that Keith wouldn’t like what he was planning, wouldn’t like the restaurant, or worst yet, find that he didn’t like Lance after all.

“Lance,” Hunk said sternly, and Lance paused in his recently restarted hyperventilation. “This is Keith. Keith, who was so affected by you he couldn’t even be in the same room as you to be able to concentrate. I think he’s into you. And I’ve heard your plans for tonight. They are perfect.”

Lance nodded along to Hunk’s words, silently reassuring himself. Hunk was right. Keith would like it, just like he liked Lance.

“Now go win him over, buddy,” Hunk finished, clapping Lance on the back. Lance stumbled forward from the force of the impact, regaining his footing a moment later.

Lance grinned up at him, checked his hair in the mirror once more, and darted out the door with a shouted goodbye to his two housemates. This time, there were no shouted objections to Lance bringing Keith home.

~~~

Keith was freaking out. It had been a week since he had seen Lance, and they were going out properly tonight.

He had been talking to Lance over the phone all week, but he was completely in the dark about what tonight would entail. It wasn’t the date itself that Keith was worried over, it was the fear that Lance would come to realize that he didn’t like Keith after all, and that their kiss had been a mistake. And once more, Keith would be left alone with his heart broken.

He was currently pulling on his fourth shirt when he heard the door to his apartment swing open.

“Just come on in, why don’t you!” he shouted. The only other person that had keys to his apartment was Shiro, and he almost never used them.

Speak of the devil. Shiro appeared in his doorway, eyeing Keith with thinly veiled amusement.

“What number are you on?” Shiro asked, looking around the heaps of clothes on the floor.

Keith debated whether to lie or not. “Four,” he finally mumbled. He looked at the floor as well, taking inventory of the mess. Keith didn’t want to see what Shiro thought of him.

Something hit his chest, and he caught it on instinct. “Wear this,” was all that Shiro said before he ducked out of the room.

It was a red flannel shirt, and Keith held it in his hands. Was he supposed to tie it around his waist? Layer it over his black shirt? Button it up?

After several minutes of internal debate, he ended up tying it around his waist.

Walking out to the living room, he found that Shiro had raided his fridge, and was now sitting on the couch drinking one of his Cokes.

He was too nervous to protest, fiddling with the sleeve of the flannel.

Shiro gave him a once over, and then turned to dig something out of his backpack. When he finally resurfaced, Shiro was holding some kind of pen in his hand and Keith began to make slow steps backwards into his bedroom.

“What,” he asked with a hint of fear, “is _that_?”

Shiro was steadily advancing, and finally managed to catch up to Keith. Not that Keith was moving very quickly.

“Eyeliner. Close your eyes and trust me.”

Keith followed his instructions, wondering if this was a good idea. But Shiro had thrown him the flannel, so he had at least some fashion sense.

Something firm pressed against his eye, and he leaned back on instinct. Shiro brought his free hand to the back of Keith’s head, keeping him in place.

It was cold, and Keith fought to keep still. He had trusted Shiro to do all of his tattoos, he could trust him to put the makeup on him.

Keith wasn’t directly opposed to makeup, he just never learned how to apply it. He had admired Shiro’s subtle winged eyeliner from afar, but he never got around to asking the older man if he would teach Keith.

But here he was, doing it for Keith. And all Keith had to do was get a date with the most stunning guy ever to push Shiro into action.

He finished one eye, and Keith blinked it open slowly. He couldn’t feel it, but the edges of his vision were ringed in black. He blinked twice more, clearing the goop from his eye. Shiro started on the other one, and Keith waited until he was done before speaking.

“Are you sure he’ll like this?” Keith asked quietly. Shiro studied him, his face unreadable.

“Definitely,” he said finally, giving Keith an encouraging smile. Keith found himself smiling back, no longer worrying the edge of his sleeve.

It was seven forty-five, and Lance was supposed to be here at eight. Keith stood awkwardly in his living room, not sure what to do with himself now that he had fifteen free minutes.

Shiro had settled back down on his couch, Coke bottle in one hand and his phone in the other.

“Allura?” Keith asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Shiro nodded, not looking up from his phone. It was a taste of irony, given that Keith had been the one to give nonverbal responses all week, too caught up in texting Lance.

That left Keith alone with his thoughts, which was never a good thing.

Lance hadn’t given him any inclination was to what they would be doing tonight, all Keith knew was that they would be going to dinner and then something afterwards. His mind had conjured up several possibilities as to what “after” entailed, and only a few of them were PG.

It had been two years since he had been on a proper date, and in those two years, Keith had forgotten proper date protocol. Questioning Shiro had only resulted in Shiro telling him to calm down and go with the flow. Keith could do that; he was always being told that he relied on his instincts too much, and that should work for the date as well.

Keith was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t heard the doorbell ringing, let alone register Shiro getting up to go and answer it.

A wolf whistle brought his attention back to the present, where Shiro was leaning against his fridge and Lance was standing in the doorway.

He blushed scarlet at being caught not paying attention, and became even redder when he fully registered that _Lance was standing in his doorway looking like that._

Lance was dressed in a form fitting blue shirt, the kind with the sleeves that ended halfway down his forearms. Keith could see the tattoo that he had done, the black ink contrasting sharply to the tan of Lance’s skin.

He had blue jeans on, not quite as tight as Keith’s skinny black jeans, but tight enough that they showed off Lance’s well sculpted legs.

Someone cleared their throat, bringing both boys back to the present. It was Shiro, who was looking more than uncomfortable standing in his kitchen.

“I think I’ll just excuse myself,” he said, glancing between Lance and Keith. He swung his backpack over one shoulder, and Lance moved from the doorway with just enough space for Shiro to pass through.

“Don’t stay out too late!” the older man called over his shoulder.

Lance moved further into Keith’s apartment, and Keith felt his breath hitch in his throat.

“Hey,” Lance said softly.

“Hey,” Keith replied, unable to take his eyes off of the rapidly approaching tan skinned boy.

“You look good,” Lance says. He’s now only a few inches from Keith and Keith has forgotten how to breathe.

“As do you,” he manages to get out, much to his surprise.

Lance offers him a hand, and Keith takes it, still in a daze. Those blue eyes are only enhanced by the shirt Lance is wearing, and Keith is fairly certain he is going to implode at some point before the night is over.

Once they finally manage to make it out of Keith’s apartment complex, with much stumbling as they tried to navigate the stairs still holding hands, Keith’s mind had finally caught up to reality. He could breathe once more, and form rational, coherent thoughts.

This was going to be one hell of a night.

~~~

Lance was running late, he knew that. But he could only push it so far over the speed limit, and he really didn’t want to get even more delayed by getting pulled over for speeding. He really couldn’t afford a ticket.

All of the materials necessary for the second half of the date were packed in the trunk of his car, the address preprogramed into his phone. He had only dreamed of actually doing this with somebody, and now it was finally happening.

He was doing everything differently this time: different restaurant, different outfit style, going out with a different gender. Lance even put on Beyoncé for good luck. The windows were fully down so that he could enjoy the nice September air.

It took longer to get to Keith’s house than he was anticipating, and he arrived five minutes after eight. Keith didn’t seem like he cared about punctuality given that he had showed up late to both tattoo nights, but Lance was stressed all the same.

He checked his hair one last time in his phone before ringing the bell to Keith’s apartment. From what he understood, Keith lived alone, so Lance was fairly surprised to see Shiro opening the door.

And there was Keith standing a few feet behind the older man, gazing off into space. His mullet was pulled back into a bun, and Lance was going to combust from how attractive he looked. Keith was also wearing his signature skinny black jeans and tight black top, a red flannel tied around his waist.

Shiro moved away from the door, looking extremely awkward as he muttered a low greeting to Lance.

Before he could stop himself or realize what a bad idea this was, Lance wolf whistled. Keith’s eyes snapped to him, and _holy fuck was he wearing eyeliner_.

Keith’s violet eyes were even more vibrant than before, and Lance froze. How was it possible for someone to look that stunning, and still be human? Let alone be into Lance?

They stared at each other, not moving an inch. Keith’s eyes were roving over him and he didn’t seem to be breathing.

Lance saw, rather than heard, Shiro saying something, watching as he moved over to the couch to grab a bag.

The shell shocked tan skinned boy moved into the apartment just enough to let Shiro exit the small room.

“Don’t stay out too late!” Shiro called from down the hall. It was enough to spark Lance back into reality, and he walked over to Keith who was still frozen in place.

“Hey,” Lance breathed, and Keith visibly sucked in a lungful of air. _I’ve stunned him into silence. Score one for Lancey Lance_!

“Hey,” Keith said back, eyes still locked on Lance’s. This boy was going to be the death of him.

“You look good.”

“As do you.” They were inches apart now, and Lance would have been perfectly content to stay like this forever. But they had dinner reservations to get to and Lance was hungry.

He reached a hand out, and Keith slipped a calloused palm into his. The contact seemed to jolt Keith, as if he didn’t realize his body was moving.

They manage to make it out of the apartment, still hand in hand, pausing as Keith throws the lock. The elevator isn’t working, so they’re forced to use the stairs. A few steps down, and they’re both laughing as they recovered from the stumble the height difference caused. Lance takes the steps much faster, and forgot that Keith had shorter legs than him, forcing him to stumble down a step to catch up to Lance.

Lance is reluctant to let go of his hand, but he likes both of his ankles unbroken. He already misses the feeling of Keith’s palm grasping his, but he knows there will be plenty of time for hand-holding later.

The night has just begun.

~~~

The September air is blowing back Keith’s hair as they cruise with the windows down in Lance’s beat up Corolla. Strands fly loose from Keith’s bun, but he’s finding that he doesn’t mind it as much.

He can feel the car start to drift, and he yells out “eyes on the road!” just in time for Lance to swerve back into his lane.

“Sorry,” he says, not sounding very sorry at all. “I’ve got the prettiest person in the world in my passenger seat, it’s hard not to stare.”

Keith’s cheeks heat up without his approval, and he is sorely tempted to shoot Lance the finger. But Lance is grinning, and Keith can’t stay upset. Why had it taken them this long to get together?

It’s about a fifteen-minute ride to the restaurant based on the map open on Lance’s phone. Google Maps won’t tell him the name of the place that they are going to, much to Keith’s annoyance. He knew that Shiro and Allura had been giving Lance tips on what Keith liked, ignoring Keith’s protests. He wanted Lance to learn about him, not be told his life story by someone else before they had even gone out on a proper date.

Lance still isn’t keeping his eyes on the road, and Keith’s knuckles are starting to turn white from holding onto the armrests.

Thankfully, they arrive at the place in one piece, and Keith has to pry his fingers off the armrest one by one.

It’s official—Lance is going to be the death of him.

~~~

Lance doesn’t have a sibling at this restaurant to give him a discount, but he has something even better: A Hunk.

When he’s not teaching cooking classes at the library, Hunk is the chef for a local restaurant called Altea Cuisine.

It’s fancy, but not super dressy. And their specialty dessert is to die for.

Keith is gripping the seat with white knuckles, and Lance feels a small pang of guilt. He really didn’t mean to get distracted so much while driving, but that eyeliner is doing funny things to his head.

The advantage to having Keith so petrified that he can’t move is it gives Lance time to move over to the passenger side door and open it for his stunning date.

Keith seems grateful for the hand getting out of the car, and truthfully, Lance is just happy to recapture Keith’s hand.

His heart is pounding so hard that Lance is seriously worried that it might just break through his ribs.

But Keith is giving him that small smile again, freezing everything in Lance. It’s Keith this time that manages to get them moving, and Lance is content being pulled along.

Once inside the restaurant, Lance gives the name for the reservation and Keith raises an eyebrow.

“Really? You made the reservation under Mr. and Future Mr. McClain? Do you intend to propose before the night is over?”

Lance shrugs. “I know my soul mate when I see them.”

Keith is blushing so hard he can’t respond, and Lance grins at him. If he knew that was all it took to silence mullet boy, he would have tried that line a long time ago.

They’re halfway to their table when Keith finally manages to mumble a response. “Who says I’ll be taking your last name?”

Lance chuckles softly, causing Keith to laugh as well.

By the time they make it to their table, the waiter is giving them a strange look as they are both in near tears from laughter.

It’s a small round table, so small that it didn’t look like it could fit one, let alone two.

Keith, in retaliation for Lance opening his car door, pulls Lance’s chair out for them. Lance gives him a disgruntled look, but sits down anyways.

Tingles go down Lance’s spine as Keith bends down to whisper in his ear.

“I don’t see why we both can’t be the gentleman.”

Lance doesn’t have time to respond before Keith straightens and takes his seat. The waiter looks several shades past annoyed at the cringey couple he being forced to seat, but places two menus on the table with a remark about how their actual server will be out in a moment.

Keith is staring at him over his menu, violet eyes dancing in the light of the single candle on the table.

“If you keep looking like that, I’m going to have to end dinner early so that we can get to the second half of our date,” Lance says in a low voice, eyes trained on his own menu.

He glances up just in time to see that lovely blush color Keith’s pale skin.

It’s far from what he actually has planned, but he’s going to let plenty of ideas fill Keith’s pretty little head for now.

~~~

As Lance hints at what the second half of their evening might be, Keith feels half of his blood leave his head and the other half travel up to his cheeks.

It’s uncanny how many times Lance is able to make him blush, and it’s only eight thirty-five.

If his ideas are right about how the rest of the evening might be spent, Keith knows that he won’t ever be able to recover from the blue-eyed devil sitting across from him.

Lance’s eyes are alight, flickering in time with the single candle perched in the center of the table.

Currently, they are focused on the menu he’s holding in one hand, reminding Keith that he is supposed to be picking out his own dinner. Hard, when what he would much rather devour is sitting across from him.

The waiter comes back, casting a glance between the two boys sitting opposite each other. Keith notices how he stiffens, and clears his throat.

_Oh no_. Keith peers over at Lance, who is relaxed as can be.

Their waiter lists off their specials, and Keith continues to observe Lance as he goes from calm and cool to rigid and slightly pink. Yep, he definitely picked up on the waiter’s tone.

A foot kicks his shin under the table and Keith is about to cry out in pain when Lance seizes the opportunity to take Keith’s hand in his.

“I will have a water, and my boyfriend will have…” Lance turns an expectant gaze towards him, and Keith can only gape. Partly from the pain and partly from how collected Lance is. And the casual use of the b-word.

“W-water,” he manages to stammer out, and Lance smiles at him. It’s the soft smile that turns Keith’s insides to mush and forces him to go red.

He didn’t even notice that they had begun to stare at each other until the waiter clears his throat.

“Coming right out,” he says with an obviously forced smile. If his lips were any thinner, they would meld right into his face and leave him without a mouth. Oh, if only.

When the man is out of view, Lance turns to him with a sorry expression, a hint of anger in his eyes. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t know that the staff would be like this here.”

Keith just shrugs. It’s not as bad as previous experiences he’s had, and he tells Lance as much.

It’s enough to spark a conversation, and they trade stories about failed dates and homophobic waiters back and forth. It’s an odd topic to talk about past relationships on a first date, but Lance is giggling and Keith would do anything to continue to hear that sound.

The thin-lipped waiter comes back out to deliver the waters, placing Keith’s down a little too forcefully so that some of the liquid splashes out.

Keith brushes it off, and the waiter does look slightly guilty, but Lance isn’t handling it so well.

He’s tightened his grip on Keith’s hand, and Keith squeezes it once to let him know that he’s okay, that he doesn’t mind it.

Lance glances at him once, shoots him a grin, and then turns to the waiter.

_Oh no_.

“Listen,” he says, and the waiter, already pink faced, grows even redder. “It’s not okay to treat people differently because they have tattoos. It’s not that uncommon!”

The waiter gapes at him, and so does Keith. This is not where he thought this conversation was going, but he quickly picks up the thread.

“In fact, I’m a tattoo artist,” Keith chimes in, unable to keep the smugness out of his voice.

“Yeah, that’s where we met,” Lance interjects, and Keith is so happy he could kiss him. The waiter is so flustered that he isn’t able to do anything but scribble down their orders.

“That was…”

“Amazing? Phenomenal? The work of the best boyfriend ever?”

“Yeah, all of the above.” This time, it’s Lance with the blush, and Keith being the suave one.

It’s a nice feeling.

~~~

After the ordeal with accusing the waiter of treating them differently because they had tattoos, the waiter serves them without any more haughtiness, even smiling the smallest bit as Lance pays.

Of course, Keith objects, but Lance shuts down his argument saying that he can pay next time. Keith pulls a face like he just sucked on a lemon.

It’s dark out when they exit Altea Cuisine, and Lance sends a quick thank you text to Hunk for cooking their dinner. He shuts off his phone before he gets a reply. Nothing, and he means _nothing,_ is going to interrupt the next phase.

Keith is eyeing him curiously as they drive out of town. “Not going to take me up to a mountain to murder me, are you?” He says it lightly, but Lance hears the faint note of concern in his voice.

“Not a chance, babe.”

Lance watches out of the corner of his eye as Keith relaxes slightly, but the white knuckled grip on the armrests is back.

The night has begun to get chilly, and Lance rolls the windows back up to the halfway point. Keith immediately rolls his all the way back down, sending a look of challenge over at Lance.

_Chicken?_ It seems to say. In response, Lance rolls his all the way back down, suffering through the cold.

It takes longer than expected to get to what he calls the ‘spot’, and the gas is getting worryingly low. He should have filled up before they left, but it’s too late now.

A windy road leads to the top of a hill, where Lance throws the car into park. Keith’s violet eyes are wide, and Lance snickers. “I already said I’m not going to kill you.”

“This feels like a scene out of a cheesy horror movie,” Keith says instead, ignoring what Lance said.

Lance immediately sobers, reaching over to take one of Keith’s hands in his.

“Just trust me, okay?”

There was a beat of silence in which Lance holds his breath, and then Keith nodded. Relief flooded through his chest with that single nod, and Lance squeezed his hand once before climbing out of the car.

Popping the trunk, he began the process of pulling all of the blankets out. They were stuffed into the small trunk, and it took so much force to tug just one out, that it sent Lance flying to his ass when it finally pulled free.

Keith was snickering somewhere nearby, and Lance rolled his eyes. He would like to see mullet head do better.

When he had bunched all the blankets that he could carry at once in his arms, Lance began the trek up to the peak of the hill.

He could hear Keith following at a distance, moving at a slower pace in the darkness.

It was a five-minute walk, but both Keith and Lance were out of breath when they reached the top. The hill was on a stupidly steep incline, and Lance’s thighs were burning.

“Woah.”

~~~

A single word was all that he could manage.

Lance had dragged them all the way to the top of a hill in the pitch-black night, and Keith couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was going to appear behind him with a knife and murder him. It was only his feelings towards the brown-haired idiot that kept him moving.

When they reached the top of the summit, Keith stopped, stunned. They could see the whole city from here, lights dazzling and blinking and creating constellations on the ground. It was breathtaking, being able to see all of it. Keith felt small in comparison.

He could feel eyes on him, but he was too fascinated to return Lance’s look.

Without thinking, his feet moved him closer to the edge until he was only a foot or so from a sheer drop off.

A hand slipped into his, Lance coming to stand beside him. “What do you think?” Did Lance sound… nervous?

Keith bit his lip, trying to contain his smile. “It’s great.” Lance squeezed his hand, the only indication that he was relieved that Keith liked it.

They stood like that, together, as time moved on without them. It was only once Keith was beginning to feel the strain in his legs did he move away.

Lance must have set up the blankets without him noticing, as there were two spread out on the ground and two more piled on top.

“One to cover us and one to use as a pillow,” Lance explained. Keith glanced over at him, the snarky reply escaping past his lips before he could stop it.

“Couldn’t afford to bring a pillow up here?” Lance swatted him with his free hand, squinting down at him.

“Shut up, mullet.”

“Last I checked, you were rather fond of my mullet.”

A hand came out of nowhere to shove Keith, and he would have regained his balance had Lance not been attached to his arm. Lance seemed to forget this as well, and they both went tumbling, Keith hitting the ground first. The air in his lungs was forced out when a heavy weight landed on top of him, pointy elbows jabbing into a soft stomach.

“Oof,” he said, and Lance grumbled something as well. But Lance wasn’t moving, and Keith eventually resorted to bucking his hips up enough that he could flip them.

Now he was the one on top, their hands trapped in between two chests.

Lance was breathing heavily, pupils blown wide. “I didn’t anticipate it happening this quickly,” followed by a short chuckled.

“Ugh, you’re being gross,” Keith said, but didn’t roll off of him.

“Don’t get me wrong, this is great, but I’m starting to not be able to breathe,” Lance wheezed out. Keith guiltily rolled off of him, but didn’t let go of his hand.

For the umpteenth time that night, Keith had the breath stunned out of him when his eyes landed on the star speckled sky.

~~~

Lance could only watch in wonder as Keith rolled off of him, his eyes landing on the sky. His jaw went slack, and his eyes opened so wide that Lance was afraid they were going to pop right out.

He practically heard as Keith exhaled in amazement. And Lance knew that he was in love when he heard that single sound.

The thought hit him like a truck as he continued to stare at the star that outshone the entire universe lying next to him.

Lance was in love. One date, and he was so deeply, irrevocably, in love with this mullet headed idiot.

From the moment those violet eyes had met his, Lance knew there was no coming back. Here he was, at the spot he vowed he wouldn’t take anyone unless he was serious about them, helplessly in love.

He had always thought that love was something that happened over time. It wasn’t something that happened instantly, that was called infatuation. But there was something that just clicked into place when he had kissed Keith back in the tattoo parlor, like the planets were aligning, that something in the world had just been made right. It was the feeling of soulmates.

Lance was so lost in Keith that he didn’t even notice that the other boy had spoken.

“Hmm?” Lance asks, coming out of his daze.

“I said,” Keith repeats, the barest note of annoyance in his voice, “it was cool what you did back at dinner.”

Lance exhales sharply. “Homophobes bother me, but I wasn’t about to call him out for it. Better do it that way, so that they are embarrassed without having their opinions directly called out. It’s a lot funnier as well.”

Keith has a soft smile on his lips, and Lance has to direct his attention elsewhere lest he get lost in his eyes again.

“Tell me about your tattoos, please?” Keith looks surprised, but launches into an explanation anyways.

“I’ve been in love with the solar system since third grade. I used to draw the planets on anything and everything, and my mom would draw them with me. It was like, my obsession from third to sixth grade. But then when my mom left…” Keith trailed off, looking back up at the sky. “Didn’t mean the same thing any more. A few years down the line and I’m getting bussed from foster house to foster house, and some kid noticed that I had drawn Pluto on the inside of my wrist.”

Keith sniffles, and Lance’s heart shatters in his chest. “’s from the cold,” Keith mumbles before returning to his story. “That ended up being Shiro. He was the one that convinced me I could have a future as a tattoo artist, and when he moved here, I went with him.”

“He got me the job, and as soon as I was old enough to get a tattoo, I already knew what I wanted. It took several months, and I just had Pluto done.” The shorter boy took a deep breath in, and Lance shifted closer so that he could wrap his body around the pale boy.

They were both looking down at Keith’s arm, when Keith poked his finger at Lance’s own tattoo. “What about you? What do the words mean?”

Lance bit his lip, hesitating. Keith noticed his hesitation as well, looking up to meet Lance’s eyes.

“You don’t have to tell me,” he said softly.

“I’m going to,” Lance replied, voice hardly more than a whisper. “Just give me a minute.”

Silence stretched between them until Lance was ready to tell his own tattoo story.

“ _A los cielos y arriba, mi amor_.” The words rolled off his tongue, and Lance glanced back up at the stars. “To the heavens and above, my love.”

Lance felt Keith nod against his chest. “It’s what my dad always used to say to me. It was kind of our own thing, you know? I’m the baby of the family, and each of my siblings had their own love quote from our mama. But _mi padre_ was the one to give me mine.”

“We moved here from Cuba when I was five, my dad staying behind for two more years. Every time we were able to call, I was the last to speak to him, and that’s what he said to me. ‘To the heavens and above, my love.’ It was what kept me going for those two years that he wasn’t with us. I was young still, but old enough to know that our family wasn’t complete.

“The meaning changed depending on the situation. Like, when I was feeling down, he would say it to me, reminding me that I would reach to the heavens and above one day.” Lance let out a small laugh, remembering the first time he had heard it in that context. It was just after he had come in second place to his self-proclaimed rival.

“It was the last thing he said to me before he passed, six years ago.”

Lance could feel the tears stinging his eyes, and he willed them away. He would not cry in front of Keith.

Keith, sensing that the mood had changed drastically, brought his free hand up to Lance’s face, grabbing him by the chin and forcing Lance to look at him.

A single tear slid down Lance’s cheek, and Keith leaned in. Sucking in a breath, Lance held it as Keith gently kissed the tear away.

And then more were falling, and Keith kissed each one away, leaving sloppy kisses in place of salty rivers.

When all of Lance’s tears had fallen, he brought their mouths together, kissing Keith slowly, lovingly.

~~~

Keith kicked the door shut with his foot, taking a hand off of Lance’s ass to throw the lock.

They were kissing passionately, tongues sliding over each other.

Keith moaned into Lance’s mouth, backing them up in the direction of Keith’s bedroom.

Lance pulled away, breathing heavily. “Shirt. Off. Now.”

Keith complied, leaving his shirt in the living room. And then they were tumbling into Keith’s bedroom, and in a panic, he remembered the mess that he had left on the floor.

Shit.

It was dark, dark enough that he hoped Lance wouldn’t notice, but he stumbled as his foot unexpectedly landed on what he assumed was a shirt.

Lance laughed against his mouth, and Keith huffed.

But Lance shut up when Keith began to suck at his neck, instead filling the small room with moans.

Keith knew that this hadn’t been the plan, but neither one of them were complaining as the backs of Lance’s knees hit the mattress.

It had been a good night, indeed.

~~~

Hunk glanced at the clock. 11:38 pm.

“Think he’ll be coming home?”

Pidge, who was sitting next to him on the couch in their apartment looked up just long enough from her computer to shoot him an incredulous look.

“You’re joking, right?”

~~~

Lance blinked wearily, unfamiliar smells attacking his nose as he struggled to remember where he was.

The events of last night were beginning to catch up with him, as well as the heavy arm that was currently draped across his torso.

Keith’s hair had come out of its bun at some point during the night, and Lance smiled fondly at him.

It wasn’t quite how he had pictured their evening ending (he wasn’t one to fuck on the first date), but he wasn’t complaining.

Keith was still asleep, snoring softly. Soft streams of sunlight were filtering in through the cracks in his blinds, and Lance was surprising comfortable despite half of Keith on top of him.

He could get used to this.

~~~

Their first ‘fight’ had been a petty squabble over Keith coming home only to find that Lance had left his beauty products all over Keith’s bathroom.

It had been a rough day at work for him, two drunk teenagers coming in asking to be tatted, only for Keith to refuse. They were drunk, and he didn’t do tattoos for drunk people.

They had made a mess of the backroom, throwing things around when he denied them, and in the end, the cops had been called.

All Keith wanted to do was wash his face and climb in bed, but he ended up knocking something of Lance’s into the sink. The clatter woke up Lance, who freaked over his ruined product, which quickly turned into Keith digging into Lance about taking up the whole, admittedly small, bathroom counter.

Lance fired back that he wouldn’t need to take up the whole counter if he could just build the shelf that he wanted.

Keith didn’t want to lose his security deposit, the whole reason he kept refusing.

It escalated to the point where Lance had stormed out of Keith’s bedroom, slamming the door behind him and taking up refuge in the kitchen.

They had spent two hours in silence, Lance refusing to leave Keith’s apartment until it was resolved and Keith being so tired that he had fallen asleep upset.

Keith had woken up to the smell of something burning, and the sounds of high pitched shrieking. He stumbled into the kitchen in a daze only to find that the oven was on fire, and Lance was throwing pitchers of water at it.

When Lance was upset, he baked. He knew he shouldn’t, because anger made him mess up the recipe, but he did it anyways. This time, he had turned the oven up too high, and it had managed to catch fire.

The two of them managed to subdue the fire without having to call 911, and had been so relieved that they had collapsed in each other’s arms on the couch.

In the morning, the fight was forgotten, and Lance was allowed to buy a shelf that stood up on its own, so that Keith didn’t lose his security deposit.

This was three weeks into their relationship.

~~~

The months had slowly passed with other memorable moments, such as watching Keith experience Christmas properly for the first time in years. That was a memory that Lance would cherish forever.

There were many whispered ‘ _I love you’s_ ’ when Keith’s breathing had evened out and Lance was the only one to hear the words.

There were even a few said where another set of ears heard them, but only one mouth had uttered the words between the pair of them.

Lance had no doubt that Keith loved him, but never wanted to pressure him into saying the words. It took some people a long time to find it within themselves, and Lance didn’t want to hear it if the words were forced.

So, he waited. He waited until Keith was ready to acknowledge it, but that didn’t stop Lance from falling deeper for him every day.

~~~

“Hey, you’re still ordering the pizza for tonight, right?” Pidge’s voice cut in and out over the phone. She still refused to switch to a different carrier, forcing everyone she called to learn how to fill in the gaps of their conversation.

“Not gonna miss it, Pidgeon.”

Lance could hear her rolling her eyes over the phone. “Just order the pizza, dumbass. Hunk, Shay, and I’ll be over at eight. Make sure we don’t find any _things_ this time.”

Now it was Lance’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Will do, Pidgeon. See ya at eight.”

She ended the call with a click, leaving Lance to look around his apartment in the new silence.

It had been six months since Keith and Lance had started dating, three months since Lance had all but moved into Keith’s place. He wasn’t even sure what his room back at the other apartment, the one he shared with Hunk and Pidge, even looked like anymore.

In that time, Hunk had finally gotten up the courage to ask out the waitress he had been crushing on for months. Shay had immediately said yes, and the pair had been near inseparable since they had become official.

Allura and Shiro had been steady, and Lance and Keith had a running bet on when he would finally pop the question. It looked like Lance was going to win, something that Keith was none too thrilled about.

It wasn’t the fact that if Lance won, he would be able to top this time. It was the entire concept of Lance _winning_ that bugged Keith.

As much as they were lovers, they were rivals of a sort. It was usually petty things, like Keith being better at Wii sports, but Lance being better at Mario Kart. Occasionally, they became too competitive and their friends had to step in and moderate, but at the end of the day, they were lovers rather than rivals. There was passion in all of the competition, a chemistry that was entirely unique to them.

Lance had known from that first night that he had finally found his soulmate.

Shaking his head, he brought himself back to the present.

They were hosting game night, the tradition that had become more important than tattoo night. Once a month, the eight of them (Pidge’s brother Matt attended as well), rotated hosting game night. It just happened to be Keith and Lance’s turn to host.

He began to pick up their living room, wrinkling his nose at Keith’s smelly shirt. The boy had no sense of cleanliness, despite the fact that he was constantly getting on Lance about leaving his shit everywhere. _Hypocrite_.

The incident that Pidge was referring to was the time that she had accidentally sat on… a bedroom tool… that the couple had forgotten was left on their couch. She had been so horrified that she had refused to sit on their couch ever again.

Keith had been equally as horrified, but Lance had been slightly smug. It had led to an interesting change in topic that night, alcohol thrown into the mix when Pidge had claimed that she couldn’t stand to be sober any more.

As funny as it had been, Lance wasn’t looking for a repeat. So, he double checked that the couch was spotless, even vacuuming the carpet in the living room. Couldn’t be too careful.

Lance heard as the door unlocked, a smile brought to his lips automatically at the sound. He normally got home before his boyfriend, and was always happy when he heard that familiar sound.

Keith looked tired as he walked through the door, dropping his bag two steps in and walking out of his red Nikes.

“Rough day?” Lance asked, walking over to wrap his boyfriend in a hug. Keith just grumbled against his chest, black hair tickling Lance’s chin.

“The new trainee is completely idiotic.”

“I’m sorry babe,” Lance said, rubbing slow circles on Keith’s back. “But hey! It’s game night!”

Lance bit his lip to keep from tearing his cheeks apart with a smile as he felt Keith smile against his chest. Everything would be okay.

~~~

With his boyfriend on his left and his best friend on his right, Keith felt perfectly content. He was currently winning, much to Lance’s annoyance. Annoying his boyfriend was only an added plus.

They were here, in his apartment, surrounded by friends, pizza, and love. If you had told Keith a year ago that his life would be like this, he would have punched you in the face for lying.

It all still felt too good to be true, as he leaned his head against Lance’s arm.

Lance smiled down at him, returning his affections. A mouthed ‘ _I love you_ ’ and Keith felt heat bloom in his chest. He hadn’t felt ready to say it to Lance yet, those three god-forsaken words.

Keith wasn’t sure what love felt, so he wanted to be absolutely sure before he even dared to mouth it back. Once you said something like that, you didn’t get to take it back. For now, he offered Lance a soft smile and a hand squeeze, filled with promises later.

Pidge made a gagging noise at their display of affection, and the rest of their friend group chuckled. Matt even had the decency to roll his eyes.

No, Keith didn’t know what romantic love felt like. But he sure as hell knew what platonic love was, surrounded by the buffoons he called friends.

And in time, he would learn to identify romantic love. For now, this was fine.

~~~

It was their first, real, actual fight.

Keith had been staying out later and later, and Lance only wanted to know why. He was refusing to tell him anything, and Lance began to get more and more upset until he reached his breaking point.

“Are you cheating on me?” he had asked, hating how the way his voice broke on the words.

Keith’s eyes widened, face draining of color. “I would never,” he managed to get out hoarsely.

Lance’s mind was whirling, trying to find an explanation.

From there, insults had been slung, feelings had been hurt, and Lance was nearly in tears.

“Is it Shiro?” Lance knew it was a low blow, but he wasn’t the only one saying hurtful things.

Shiro had been a common topic of their petty debates, Lance feeling slightly uncomfortable that Keith worked with someone that he used to lust after.

He did feel secure in their relationship, and didn’t think Keith was cheating at all. But sometimes love gave you crazy notions, filled your head with impossible possibilities, made you read between the nonexistent lines for things that were nothing more than insecurities.

Love also made you wary, and this was not Lance’s first rodeo. Love gone wrong made you think that the things that happened before were happening again, that they were screwing someone else, too. Love lost made those tiny insignificant happenings seem relevant, caused you to make a mountain out of a mole hill.

And that was what was happening with Lance. Throwing up walls built with words he didn’t mean, insults with no base to them, but with enough fury and fire in his voice to make them seem like he did.

Keith, the bastard that he was, was fighting back with just as much vigor, bringing up anger over past issues, until they were both screaming.

“Go run off with a whore, why don’t you. Find someone that actually loves you.”

The words hit Lance with the force of a tidal wave, a tsunami of pain coming to sweep him away.

He took a step back, looking at the face of the boy he loved, now so unfamiliar.

Keith was panting, and neither one of them spoke. Frozen in time, they watched as whatever was between them cracked, splintering under the weight of the pale boy’s words.

Lance didn’t hesitate as he grabbed his keys from the bowl by the door, fleeing out into the night.

~~~

Keith knew that he shouldn’t be staying out so late, but it was the only way.

Lance was waiting for him when he got home, worried. There were bags on his normally flawless face, and Keith felt guilty for causing them.

He was ready to spill everything when Lance had asked him quietly if Keith was cheating on him. The fact that Lance had the audacity to even think that he would was what caused Keith to fire back.

It was becoming more and more heated with each passing minute, until they were screaming at each other. Something broke, but neither one of them paid it much mind.

Keith was well aware that all of Lance’s insecurities and worries were coming from past relationships, and internal anxiety that he couldn’t help.

But Lance wasn’t the only one with anxiety.

Keith had plenty of his own worries and doubts, doubts about so many things. Did Lance actually love him, or was this just a ruse? Would he ever be good enough for the tan skinned boy, who lit up a room simply by being present?

It was enough to drive Keith forward, slinging insults until his throat was raw.

And then he said the words that he could never take back.

“Go run off with a whore, why don’t you. Find someone that actually loves you.” As soon as the words had left his mouth, Keith wished that he could take them back. Words like that, though, were impossible to take back.

He could only watch as Lance froze, taking in his words. It was dead silent in the apartment, neither one of them moving.

Keith wanted nothing more than to rush to him and apologize over and over, but it was like his legs were stuck in cement. The apology was stuck in his throat, choking him until he couldn’t breathe.

Lance’s face was cracking, tears filling those gorgeous blue eyes that Keith loved so much.

Keith could only watch as Lance retrieved the keys to Blue, disappearing into the night with the soft click of the door as it closed.

_What had he done?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah yeah I know I said I was going to post on Wednesdays, but that was before I had chapter two written the day after I posted chapter one. I am updating tags as I go, and you should see chapter three in two days. I'm not sorry for the angst at the end, but if it makes you feel better, I cried while writing it. Also, about the chapter sizes, they are unequal. They will get shorter and shorter, but I can't bring myself to write too much angst in one chapter. I will have to say, I'm disappointed that no one picked up on the name of Lance's brother. If you did, kudos! As always, comments and Kudos are very welcome. Oh hey, one last thing, I apologize if I butchered the Spanish. Google Translate is only so accurate.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr: blondeslytherin  
> Find me on Instagram: aesthetically_bookish


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Following Lance and Keith's fight, they spend three days apart before they reunite. Only, their reunion doesn't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Major angst ahead.

Keith was going insane.

Lance had disappeared into the night, not coming back. Keith had stayed up all night waiting for him, too scared to reach for his phone to call the taller boy.

Eventually, he had to leave for work, scribbling out a note on the counter in case Lance decided to come back.

It was a Thursday, meaning that Lance wasn’t working today. He would be at school for all of the morning, but he might be back in the afternoon. Keith was functioning on that single word: _might._

One look at Keith’s face when he walked into the tattoo parlor was enough for Shiro. He gave Keith a pitying smile, telling him to take an extra hour for lunch. Or, as Shiro put it, take a nap before you fall asleep while permanently inking someone.

Keith was fidgety all morning, waiting for his lunch break to come so that he could see if Lance had come by their apartment.

As soon as the clock struck twelve, Keith was tugging on his jacket and helmet, speeding towards home. His heart was pounding in his chest, not helped by the corners he was taking rather sharply on his motorcycle.

His hands were shaking and he dropped his keys twice trying to get them to go into the lock. Swinging the door open, Keith bit back a sob.

Lance had been here; it was very clear.

The apartment looked exactly like it had last July, only containing the bare minimum. Keith hadn’t realized how much life Lance had brought to it until it was all gone.

Everything that they had built together in the last six months was gone. Cleared out, wiped away like a water spill.

The note was still there, in the same spot that he had left it. And for the first time since his mom had left, Keith let the tears fall, sobbing on his kitchen floor.

~~~

Lance knew Keith’s work schedule like the back of his hand. He knew that the apartment would be empty from nine to twelve, and three hours was plenty of time for Lance to get his stuff. Screw school. He was in no state to listen to Professor Varkon drawl for three hours about the history of whatever.

There had been more of his shit in Keith’s apartment than he was anticipating, and he was glad that he had recruited Hunk. Not only for moving his stuff, but for moral support.

When Lance had shown up in tears at three in the morning in the apartment that he used to share with Hunk and Pidge, he was extremely grateful that they had never gotten around to changing the locks.

It was cold this time of year, and Lance had stood shivering in the complex hallway as he fumbled with his keys. Eventually, he had made enough noise that Pidge had opened the door with bleary eyes and a knife held in one hand.

She had taken one look at Lance, and had ushered him in with a small hand on his back and comforting words.

The commotion also woke Hunk, who started on hot tea immediately. Lance hadn’t been in a state to tell them what had happened, and eventually collapsed on the sofa, emotionally and physically spent.

In the morning, he had woken up in a panic, the events of the night previous coming back to him in waves.

It was a bit drastic to move everything out, he knew that, but he also knew that he couldn’t see Keith right now. Those words—it’s not something that can be easily fixed. Every time his mind replayed their fight… it was like his heart was shattering all over again. Every damn time.

So here he was, standing in his… well, Lance wasn’t sure what Keith was to him right now. But here he was, packing everything that he had moved here over the course of the last six months into the back of his car, some of his belongings going in Hunk’s pickup truck.

There was a note on the counter, but he ignored it. It was probably Keith asking Lance to never see him again, and to get all of his shit out of his apartment.

When the last of his stuff was packed, he went back one more time to drop his key on the table. He wouldn’t be needing it anymore.

~~~

It had been three days and Keith was miserable. He had given in and tried to call Lance, only to receive no response. Eventually his calls stopped going through, meaning that Lance had blocked his number. That hurt so deeply that Keith hadn’t moved for hours off of his couch.

He had fucked up. So badly. And he couldn’t begin to fix it if Lance wouldn’t talk to him.

In a desperate attempt to at least _talk_ to him, he had gone by Lance’s old apartment.

Keith’s heart was about to beat right out of his chest when he saw Blue parked out of Lance’s apartment complex.

But he had stood there on the sidewalk, unable to move. An hour later and the March chill was beginning to seep into his bones when he finally conceded defeat. Lance wouldn’t want to see him, anyways.

Keith was a coward; he was well aware of that. But he couldn’t face Lance after what he had said to him. He was a coward for saving the words that drove him away in the first place, when it would have been so easy to take it back, and tell Lance what he had been doing.

But everything was a damn competition between them, even when it came to arguments. So, Keith had pushed and pushed until he had been the final one standing. There was no sense of victory in driving his boyfriend away.

In the past three days alone, Keith had sobbed more than he had sobbed in the last six years.

Shiro had finally told him not to come into work until he had resolved his issue. He was thankful that Shiro had done it, even if he had done it with a hard and hurt look on his face.

Keith hadn’t only fucked up with Lance, he had fucked up with everyone. Their friend group was so intertwined, that they were now choosing sides. So far, all had sided with Lance.

One screw up after another. That was Keith Kogane’s life.

He had taken the best thing that had ever happened to him and thrown it all away in the heat of an argument.

~~~

“Lance, you’re miserable.”

Lance sniffled in response. “Thanks for noticing.”

“If you tell me what he said, maybe we can help,” Hunk’s tone was sincere, but Lance shook his head, burying his face once more in his pillow.

The words had ricocheted around his brain more times than he could count, but it was just too painful to say out loud. If Lance told Hunk what Keith said, it would change the big guy’s friendship with him. He couldn’t bear to do that, even if Keith was a callous asshole.

He was beginning to lose feeling in his arm from putting all his weight on it, and Lance was relieved. Maybe then he would lose the tattoo on his arm, the one that was even more painful than those hateful words.

The bed shifted as Hunk stood up, bustling about his room.

“Do still have his number blocked?”

Another nod from Lance. Another sigh from Hunk. “One day, you’re going to have to talk to him.”

“No, I won’t,” mumbled Lance.

“Yeah, buddy, you will.”

“I don’t have to do anything.”

“Actually…” Lance picked his head up, sensing the forced lightness in Hunk’s tone. “You do have to go back to work and school at some point. Allura called. She said you can take a shorter shift today, help you readjust.”

“What if he shows up to the library?”

“Allura talked to Shiro, and he said that Keith hasn’t left his apartment in two days. I doubt he’ll be going to the library.”

Lance groaned, flopping back down. He had done nothing but cry and eat ice cream for three days, which to him, still wasn’t enough time. But this type of heartbreak takes a long time to heal, and he’s not going anywhere by lying in bed all day. It may feel good, but it’s not doing anything.

“Tell Allura I’ll be there in an hour.”

~~~

Lance hated to admit it, but he felt better getting out of the apartment. It was beginning to smell stale in his bedroom, and his back was aching from all the time he spent in bed.

Allura had given him a bright smile when he walked in, and he thanked the stars above that he had met her. She had only given him a hug, and said that if he needed to talk, she was there. Lance blinked away the tears, giving her a watery smile as a response.

There was such pity on her eyes Lance wanted nothing than to break down all over again and listen to her soothing voice. But he was going to be strong, and he was going to recover. And then, maybe then would he talk to Keith.

He was determined to make this a good day.

~~~

Against his better judgment, Shiro forwarded the text that Allura sent him to Keith. The two of them needed to work things out, and fast. They were miserable without each other, and so was everyone else. Shiro remembered the last time that Keith had his heart broken.

But Lance and Keith--they just _worked_. They were a dynamic duo, amazing individually and even better together. They got each other, and Shiro saw the way that Keith looked at Lance.

There was such fondness in his eyes that Shiro had never seen before. He knew that Keith was hesitant to say a certain three words, but someone would have to be blind to see that Keith didn’t love Lance. The poor boy had fallen hard for the Cuban, so hard that he was scared to acknowledge it.

It had taken them far too long to get together, and never before had they fallen out so drastically before.

Shiro had known Keith for years, and had begun to grow closer to Lance as well. Everyone saw how destroyed they both were, and it had stretched on for far too long already.

That was what prompted Shiro to forward that fateful message, giving Keith enough hope to go to the library and fix things.

~~~

Shiro: **image.73**

_Keith_ : **don’t fuck with me Shiro**

Shiro: **it’s a screenshot I’m not fucking with you**

Shiro: **go fix this mess**

Keith’s heart was pounding.

Shiro had sent him a screenshot of his texts with Allura, of her telling him that Lance had shown up at the library, looking like a mess.

_Lance was at the library_. What was he supposed to do with this information? He had already failed once trying to go and see him, he wasn’t about to fail again. And besides, Lance had blocked his phone number. He clearly didn’t want to talk to him.

But a library was different than an apartment. It was public, and for some reason, far less formidable. Lance couldn’t refuse to open the door, as it was public property. Sure, he could hide in the staff room and refuse to talk to him, but it’s a hell of a lot better than having him slam the door in his face like he might have done.

Before he could go anywhere, he needed a shower. And a shave. It had been three days since he had bothered to do anything, clinging to the lingering scent of Lance on his clothes like a drunk on his last bottle of whiskey. He smelled like pineapples and the ocean, two things that Keith had detested before he had met Lance. How he still smelled like the ocean despite being an hour away from the nearest beach, he’ll never figure out, but it was _Lance_. Over time, he had come to associate the two smells with Lance, and couldn’t walk down the fruit aisle in the supermarket without thinking of him.

Mustering all the strength and courage in his body, Keith cleaned himself up, making sure to shave and tie back his hair the way he knew Lance liked.

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught something remaining on the damn shelf that Lance had insisted upon after their first fight. Looking closer, he realized that it was an eyeliner pencil, something that Lance must have left behind.

Keith’s breath hitched in his throat. Picking it up gingerly, he held it loosely in his palm. After their first date, Lance had bought Keith three different pencils, insisting that Keith learn how to do his eyeliner. Keith had reluctantly agreed, only because he loved the way that it affected Lance.

Holding it now, Keith slowly curled his hand closed, until the pencil had completely disappeared.

Something burned in his eyes, and Keith blinked twice, feeling the tears start to form. He wished them away, promising himself that he wouldn’t cry over Lance again.

Tucking the eyeliner pencil away, Keith checked his reflection one more time in the mirror, hoping that it would be enough to stun Lance long enough for Keith to explain.

_Please, just let me talk to him_. Keith didn’t think anyone was listening, they never were, but it didn’t hurt to try. He was going to need all of the support possible.

~~~

“Tell him to go away!”

He’s currently hiding in the staff room, in the corner, underneath the table. His breathing is labored and Lance may actually faint this time.

Allura glances at Pidge, who for the first time in history, actually looks _concerned_ for _Lance_.

“We can’t,” Pidge says slowly, wringing her hands. Normally calm and snarky, she is just as affected as everyone else by Lance and Keith’s issue. “It’s public property, and he hasn’t done anything that warrants us kicking him out.”

“Please.” Lance’s voice is hoarse, and he is shaking.

Pidge and Allura share another look, and Allura squares her shoulders. Oh no.

“No.” Lance gapes at her. “Lance McClain, you are going to go and talk to your boyfriend. Now. The two of you need to resolve this issue.”

Lance wants to protest that Keith isn’t his boyfriend anymore, but they never officially broke up. He waited under the table for a few more moments, until two hands reached out to him, one pale, the other dark.

Gripping each of their offered hands in his, Lance hauled himself to his feet. I guess I’ll go and talk to him.

Allura leaned in, whispering where Keith would be waiting. Lance rolled his eyes, because for once, Keith was the one being cliché.

The romance section wasn’t far from the staff room, and as Lance rounded the corner, he stopped dead. Not because of Keith, but rather the person next to Keith.

As typical, Keith was dressed in his bright red jacket and skinny jeans, hair pulled back. He was hot, that wasn’t new, and someone was taking notice.

Keith had his hands shoved in his pockets, leaning against the bookshelf labeled BAK-BEN. He was turned away from where Lance was standing, but it didn’t matter.

Another man was leaning on the opposite shelf from him, and even from here, Lance could tell that he was flirting with Keith. But Keith wasn’t having it. From his rigid posture and annoyed expression, he seemed to be deterring the man’s attempts.

Lance crept closer, not daring to breathe lest they heard him.

“Why don’t we grab a coffee later, handsome.”

“I told you, I’m not interested.” Keith’s voice was angry. “I’m waiting for my boyfriend.”

The other man quirked a well-groomed brow. “I don’t see him. Are you sure he’s coming?” His voice was a smooth purr, and Lance wanted nothing more than to sink a fist into his perfect mouth.

“Yes.” Keith’s voice wavered, betraying him. The man moved closer, reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Keith’s ear. The black-haired boy batted his hand away before it came anywhere near his hair, and the oncoming man’s face hardened.

“You’re sure that we can’t go out for that coffee, Keith?”

Lance’s heart stopped. Keith _knew_ him. Insecurities came rushing back up, the topic of their fight being brought to the front of his mind.

“Fuck off, Lotor. I told you once, I’m not interested. That should be enough.” Keith said it flippantly, but Lance knew him well enough to hear the tremor in the undertone, something that only came out when Keith was really nervous.

Keith pushed away, intending to walk past this Lotor guy, but he shot a hand out, wrapping pale fingers around Keith’s bicep.

“You are going to go out with me.” It was a snarl, and Lance could only watch as Lotor’s other hand began to creep towards his waistband. It went past his belt buckle, and over to his hip. Shiny metal flashed, and cold washed over Lance.

Lotor had the gun pointed at Keith, and Keith was shaking his head. Keith was strong, which came as a great surprise to Lance. It was usually hidden under his jacket, but when you felt his arms, it was evident.

Time seemed to slow down as Keith wrenched his arm out of Lotor’s grasp, and Lotor aimed the gun.

Lance had broken into a full sprint, and he collided with Keith just as the shot rang out.

_Bam_.

Two bodies hit the ground, and Lance’s vision was beginning to become black around the edges.

Everything was distorted. His vision was blurry, and he could hear someone speaking but he wasn’t able to make out the words.

His chest was aching, like he had been out in the cold for too long.

Lance reached a hand up, touching his fingers to something sticky. When they came away red, Lance stared at them in confusion.

He could feel his head begin to get foggy, and his eyelids were growing so, so heavy.

The last thing that Lance ever saw was the most stunning pair of violet eyes.

And then the world went dark.

~~~

Keith’s heart was doing gymnastics in his chest as he waited for Lance.

It had been Allura’s idea for him to wait in the romance aisle, and Keith hadn’t been able to do anything but nod.

As soon as he had walked into the library, a flash of brown hair had darted past him, and Keith had been too slow to call out to Lance. He knew better than to try and go after him in the staff room, so he had turned to Allura.

She had eyed him nervously, saying that she would try her best to get Lance out to him. There was some emotion in her eyes that Keith didn’t even want to begin to identify, and he had followed her suggestion as to where to wait.

When he entered the romance aisle, Keith had felt a set of eyes on him.

He stiffened. His instincts were screaming, warning him of the approaching danger. Keith had left this pocket knife at home, too dazed from the possibility of talking to Lance to go and grab it.

Keith rubbed his thumb over his sun tattoo nervously. The habit had begun sometime after he had gotten the bright yellow tattoo, and now it was the only indication that he would give that he was anxious.

His instincts paid off as a shock of silver hair came around the corner, a feral look in the man’s eyes.

“The name’s Lotor,” he purred in a silky-smooth voice, raking his eyes up and down Keith.

“And I’m not interested,” Keith replied, scowling. There was so much ice in his tone that he was surprised snow didn’t start falling from the ceiling. He really didn’t want to have to deal with this today.

Lotor didn’t take the hint, instead leaning on the shelf opposite Keith. “I’m sure I can change your mind.”

“No thanks,” Keith said, angling his body away.

“Why don’t we grab a coffee later, handsome.” There was a warning note in his tone. Keith ignored it.

“I told you, I’m not interested. I’m waiting for my boyfriend.” The quaver in his voice wasn’t from Lotor’s presence, it was the uncertainty of what Lance even was to him as of right now.

Lotor’s brows furrowed, his mouth becoming a thin line. Keith really wished he had his knife now.

“I don’t see him. Are you sure he’s coming?”

“Yes.” _No._

Lotor was reaching over, and Keith batted away his hand before it even came close to his face. _Don’t touch me, you vile pig_. Keith wrinkled his nose, looking up at him. Lotor towered over Keith, and it angered Keith to have to look up to people who deserved to be looked down on.

“You’re sure that we can’t go out for that coffee, Keith?” Keith felt his stomach drop. He had never told Lotor his name.

“Fuck off, Lot-whore, I told you once, I’m not interested. That should be enough.” Keith pushed off the bookshelf, intending to walk away and find Lance in another aisle. Too quick for him to see, a hand darted out, curling around Keith’s bicep. He jerked to a halt, staring up at this fool with narrowed eyes.

“You are going to go out with me.” The words were spoken in a low tone, a blatant threat. Keith may have missed the hand, but he didn’t miss Lotor reaching for the gun strapped to his hip. His pulse quickened, mind whirling.

Keith was shaking his head, angling his body to wrench out of his grip, the moves already playing out in his mind. He would free his arm, grab the gun, and reverse the roles.

But Lotor was quick thinking as well, and the gun was pointed at his chest, when a body slammed into his.

_Bam!_

Keith was hitting the floor, slamming his head against the worn carpet.

He looked up just in time to see Lotor staring at him with wide eyes. The silver haired man sneered, tucked the gun away, and fled. Keith would have chased him, but there were more pressing matters at hand.

His head was pounding, and Keith rolled out from the body on top of him.

Everything stopped as he took in that familiar face, those startling blue eyes. The blue eyes that were blown wide in a panic, staring down at the blood seeping out of his chest.

Keith pressed his fingers into the wound, anything to stop the bleeding. “Lance, Lance, I need you to stay with me now. Please, Lance, please.”

But Lance’s eyes were fluttering shut, and Keith couldn’t feel anything. Couldn’t hear anything, his mind and heart had stopped the moment he heard the gun going off.

There was a flurry of movement all around him, but Keith paid it no mind.

“Lance.” Keith’s voice broke on the single syllable, right on the ‘n’. “Please stay with me.”

A single tear rolled down a pale face, collecting pain and heartbreak and unspoken words, until it landed on an impossibly still tan face.

“You’re the only one I ever loved. I love you,” Keith whispered. And until his heart stopped beating, Keith would keep that broken promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sorry for the shorter chapter, but I am not at all sorry about the angst. If it helps, I sobbed as I wrote this even though it was my choice for the chapter to be like this. And again about the short length, I'm sorry. I can't write too much angst in one chapter, more for the sake of my sanity than anything else. Good news! The next chapter is longer, and less angst. I'll have it out in two day's time, and it will be the final chapter. There will also be a short epilogue, so stay tuned!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this final chapter, told only from Keith's perspective, Keith waits anxiously in the hospital to see if Lance lives or not. Flashbacks give us an insight to what happened before, the way Keith fell in love with Lance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The final chapter oh my god. Warning: angst, and an annoying use of italics.

“Hello, this Coran, bringing you today’s breaking news. I’m currently outside of Altea Local Library, where a shooting has just occurred. The suspect has fled the scene, and there is only one injured. The events unfolded at half past noon today, when the suspect in question propositioned a young man. After the young man refused, the suspect pulled a gun, firing a single shot. The shot did not meet it’s intended target, as someone jumped in front of the bullet at the last moment, pushing the other man out of the way. It seems to be the boyfriend of the target, but sources are unable to be confirmed at the moment. We are unable to reach the victim’s family for a comment at the time. We will be updating you intermittently as the scene unfolds.

“If you see this man, please call police immediately. Do not engage, as he is considered armed and dangerous.” A picture of Lotor flashed on the screen. Keith’s lip curled in disgust. “My heart goes out to the injured and his family. This is Coran G-M, signing off.”

Keith turned his attention away from the TV, which was now focusing once more on the hostess of the news show.

His leg had a mind of its own, jittering up and down a mile a minute.

They had taken Lance away in the ambulance, having to physically pry Keith’s hands off of him. There was so much blood, staining everything. It was soaked into the carpet, into his shirt, into his mind.

Lance had taken a bullet for him. Keith was supposed to be the one on the operating table, toeing the line between life and death, not Lance.

If he lived, Keith was going to kill him for risking his life like that.

As it was, Keith was being forced to sit out in the waiting room while Lance was in the operating room.

The paramedics had looked ashen as they removed Lance from the scene. “He’s lost a lot of blood,” one had said to the other, and Keith’s entire being had run cold. Because he wasn’t family, Keith wasn’t allowed to ride in the ambulance with him. He had been ready to follow on his motorcycle, but he had been so shaken by what happened that he couldn’t sit on the bike without falling off.

Hunk had agreed to drive Keith to the hospital, and two phone calls had been made. One to Shiro, and one to Lance’s mom. She was currently arranging a flight there, and Shiro had closed down the tattoo shop for the day so that he could be there as well.

Hunk’s knuckles had been white as they gripped the steering wheel, and he kept sending glances at Keith out of the corner of his eye. Keith could only stare straight ahead, hollow at the core.

The scene kept replaying over and over in his head, what he could have done to change the situation, what he could have done to keep Lance safe. It was on a loop, as if that was Keith’s punishment for not taking the bullet: forced to relive the worst moment of his life for all eternity.

Those fateful words paled in comparison to what he was facing now. Sitting alone in the waiting room, blind to whether Lance was going to live or not.

Shiro was stuck in traffic, and Hunk had gone off in search of a clean shirt for Keith.

Allura was in a such a bad state that she couldn’t bear to come to the hospital, and Pidge had offered to stay with her. The library had been indefinitely closed. No one wanted to be there after what had just occurred.

Keith was all alone with his thoughts in the uncomfortable waiting room chair, forced to relive that moment over and over and Lance’s life was hanging by a thread.

~~~

_Keith had been surprised the first time Lance had said ‘I love you’ to him. They were curled up in bed, Keith acting as the little spoon, and he was moments away from blissful sleep when Lance had uttered the words._

_It had been so soft that Keith thought he was actually dreaming, but the words surprised him so much that he jolted awake. His heart beat erratically in his chest, and he could only listen as Lance’s own breathing evened out, and he was left to wonder if he had dreamed it after all._

_Hours upon hours Keith stared up at the ceiling, trying to process what had just been said. He fell asleep close to four in the morning, restless until he woke three hours later._

_In the morning, he hadn’t questioned Lance about what he said, staring at him over his bowl of cereal. Lance was oblivious to Keith’s internal panic, munching contentedly on his Fruit Loops._

_He waited for weeks to see if Lance was going to say it again, and the next time he did, it was still a surprise. The same scenario, the same panic induced reaction. Keith did not sleep that night either, a single question on his mind: how could someone like Lance love someone like him?_

~~~

“Sir, we ask that you go home.” The nurse’s voice was even and neutral, but her face only showed sympathy.

“I’m not leaving.”

“Sir.”

“NO.”

“Keith,” Shiro said softly beside him, placing a hand on his knee. “We aren’t doing anything by sitting in the waiting room for him. We need to go home. We can come back in the morning.”

Keith shook his head, tears pricking the backs of his eyes. “I’m not leaving him. Not again.” He was so close to sobbing; his voice was coming out all choked up.

Shiro and the nurse exchanged a glance, unspoken words travelling between their eyes.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she said, the hint of a sigh at the end of her words.

“Thank you,” Shiro replied, but she was already out of earshot. “Keith.” He looked up as Shiro said his name, and whatever Shiro had been about to say died on his tongue.

They sat in silence as they waited for the nurse to come back, Shiro awkwardly retrieving his hand. Keith was still in his bloodstained clothes, and a small girl was giving him a wide-eyed stare. He stared back at her, and a moment later, the little girl burst into tears. Keith felt like crying himself.

The nurse came back, wearing a grim smile. “We know which room he will be in when he comes out of surgery. Visiting hours are over but… we’ve agreed to waive the rules in your situation.” It was fancy hospital speak for ‘we see that you aren’t leaving so we’re putting you in a room solely because we think you might hurt someone if we ask you to leave’.

Keith nodded mutely, joints protesting as he stood up for the first time in hours.

As they travelled down the halls to where Lance’s room was, they passed a woman holding a balloon with the words ‘it’s a boy!’, shooting Keith back down memory lane.

~~~

_“Are you sure you want me here?” Keith asked nervously, rubbing the toe of his shoe nervously on the linoleum floor._

_“Of course!” Lance had replied cheerfully, a grin nearly splitting his face in two. “There’s no one else I would want beside me as I meet my first nephew.”_

_“But shouldn’t this be an occasion only for family?”_

_Lance’s smile went from a face-splitting grin to the soft smile he reserved only for Keith. “You are family, Keith. Don’t ever think that you aren’t.”_

_Keith’s heart had done the flip-flop thing that only happened when Lance gave him that smile._

_They walked in together, hand in hand, to meet Lance’s first nephew. It’s the first time that Keith realizes his feelings may be more than just ‘like’._

~~~

His eyelids are drooping, and Keith keeps startling awake, jerking to a halt inches from the floor after rolling off the couch for the fifth time. He needs to stay awake. For Lance. Shiro gives him a pitying look, but he is nodding off as well.

Soon enough, Shiro is asleep, and Keith is left alone in the dark hospital room. The couches are slightly more comfortable than the waiting room chairs, but his back is starting to ache. _I deserve it_ , he thinks with no small amount of self-loathing.

Keith settles back down, head tucked against his chest and arms folded over. _Five minutes. I’ll sleep for five minutes_.

When he drifts off, the dream isn’t a dream; it’s a memory.

~~~

_It’s Keith’s birthday. Lance had woken up before Keith, and Keith had slept a half an hour later than normal. He had been annoyed when he awoke. Not only because he had slept in, but because he had missed Lance as well. They normally ate breakfast together before Lance darted off to class, and Keith to the tattoo parlor. Now he wouldn’t see him until late tonight. What a great start to his nineteenth birthday._

_As he ate in silence, he repeatedly checked his phone for any new messages from Lance. On the rare occasions that he wasn’t there when Keith woke up, be it from pulling an all nightery with Hunk studying or when he went to visit his mom for three days, he always sent Keith a good morning text. Now? Keith was receiving nothing from him but dead silence._

_His mood soured until he was downright frightful to be around when he arrived at the shop. Shiro had taken off for something, God knows he never told Keith what he was doing, leaving him to run it all alone. They were currently trying to hire another artist, but it had been scarce pickings. So today, he was all alone to deal with obnoxious people demanding outrageous requests that they didn’t even cover there._

_By noon, he had received no texts, calls, or messages of any kind from his friends or boyfriend. It wasn’t really that different from years past, but Keith had hoped that would change this year._

_Before Lance came along, it had just been him and Shiro, and for the dark years before that, just himself. Shiro had been kind in the last two years that he had known Keith, wishing him happy birthday and gifting him small things. With Lance came his friends as well, and Keith had been pulled into a group consisting of Pidge, Hunk, Shiro, Allura, Matt (who he learned was Pidge’s brother), and Lance. The seven of them routinely hung out together, growing close in the two months since Lance and Keith had started to date. Compete and utter silence from all of them stung more than he cared to admit._

_Running the shop on his own had been difficult, and was not at the top of Keith’s favorite things. He didn’t like people that much, and it was too much pressure for him alone to keep it open and run it smoothly. He hated it when Shiro did this to him. But he had confidence in Keith, and Keith would rather eat his own toe than let Shiro down._

_It was twenty minutes before closing that someone came in, looking hopeful and a tad nervous. Keith knew that look—it was the look of someone who had gathered every ounce of strength in their body just to walk into the shop. Despite his general disdain towards people, Keith didn’t want to turn the frightful lady away._

_What she wanted was simple and tiny, and would only take him another two hours. Keith sent Lance a quick text letting him know that he would be late, and was annoyed and relieved to get a response back quickly. It was only two words, but it was something. Even if they weren’t the two words that Keith wanted to hear._

_The lady was quiet as he worked on her tattoo, and Keith couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew her. He had even gone as far to ask her name, Shay, but he didn’t recognize it. He did, however, have the fleeting thought that he should set her up with Hunk. They would look good together. But he shot the thought down, reasoning that Hunk hadn’t even sent him a happy birthday so Keith shouldn’t set him up with someone._

_It was dark when he finished, and he stared dejected at his motorcycle for a moment before climbing on._

_The ride back to his apartment was roughly twenty minutes, and he stretched it out longer, not wanting to go back to the apartment yet. His phone chirped twice while he was riding, and he determinedly ignored it._

_He was nineteen today; he wanted to enjoy the first day of his last teenage year. The October air was nice on his skin, and the night was calm. It was a rare sight for the roads to be as empty as they were, and he relished in it._

_Lance’s car was parked out front when he returned to the apartment, and Keith scowled at it. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to face his boyfriend right now._

_As usual, the elevator was out of order, and he huffed as he took the four flights up to his apartment. With each step, his mind reminded him of each and everything that had been bad about today, to the point of him very nearly punching the wall outside of his apartment._

_Everything good that could have happened didn’t, and everything shitty had been attracted him today like he was some kind of magnet._

_The final straw was his key sticking in the lock as he threw the door open. The lights were off, and he angrily flicked them on._

_“Surprise!” came a chorus of voices, and Keith jumped._

_His friends had popped out of various places around the tiny apartment, looking excited while wearing party hats and blowing noise makers._

_Lance was grinning at him, face slowly deflating as Keith didn’t move._

_“Happy birthday?” he said weakly, scratching at his neck._

_“This…this is for me?” Keith asked slowly, and Lance nodded. Keith took in the apartment, all of the decorations and people._

_“Is it—”_

_“It’s perfect,” Keith breathed, only loud enough for Lance to hear. His smile came back, and he walked over to wrap his boyfriend in a hug._

_“Happy birthday, babe,” Lance said against Keith’s head, and Keith suddenly understood why he had been silent all day. Lance couldn’t keep a secret to save his life._

_Maybe things weren’t so bad._

~~~

A commotion in the room was what sent him startling awake. After nearly falling off the bed in fright, Keith managed to finally discover what all the noise was about.

A team of about four or five nurses were now in the room, bustling about, setting up machines and gadgets. Keith had no idea what any of them did, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

The nurses paid Keith no mind, going about their business as if they were the only ones in the room. Shiro was still snoring away on the chair in the corner, oblivious to the world.

“What’s going on?” he managed to ask, throat protesting as he spoke. It was dry from disuse, and he desperately wanted water. But if Lance was coming, Keith wasn’t leaving.

None of the nurses responded, still dealing with the machines and various tools.

“We’re going to have to ask you to leave,” one nurse said briskly, gesturing for Keith to get up while another woke Shiro.

“What’s going on?” Keith asked again, the panic setting in. Had Lance not made it? Were they giving his room to someone else?

The nurse ignored him yet again, and he was ushered out the door.

“What’s going…” the door was slammed shut, “…on.”

Rage and fear roared up inside him, and for a fleeting moment, Keith wanted to slam his fists on the wall made up of windows. It would do him no good though, and he stared dejectedly at the door. The last thing Keith needed was a bruised and bloody hand on top of everything else. He wasn’t sure that he could see blood again after the shooting.

By now, it was morning, and Shiro looked just as confused as him.

Keith continued to stare at the wooden door, as if it could give him answers.

Emotion was slowly choking him, until he was gasping in small, heaving breaths. _Why? Why was this happening?_

A hand clapped down on his shoulder, and Keith didn’t even have to turn to see that Shiro had his dad face on.

“Come on,” he said, and Keith could do nothing more but follow where he led.

~~~

They managed to locate a nurse who could give them an update on Lance’s condition.

“There were some complications during surgery, and for now, Lance is in the ICU. If his condition stables, we will be able to move him back to the room that the two of you were in.”

“What kind of complications?”

The nurse pursed her lips. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that, sir.”

Keith felt his stomach plummet to the ground. That usually meant that it was bad. Really bad.

Shiro nodded, thanking the woman. Keith was frozen in place, staring at the spot where she was long after she had disappeared from view.

“It’s going to be okay, Keith.”

“Is it, Shiro? Is it really going to be okay? My maybe boyfriend is hovering between life and death, and I can’t do anything! I don’t even know where I stand with him, and he might die, and the last thing I said to him was ‘go find someone that loves you’!” Keith’s voice was rising in pitch, but he couldn’t help it. Days’ worth of pent up emotions was pouring out, taking the form of anger.

“He took a bullet for me, and I can’t even say ‘I love you’ to him! And the last thing he saw was me—me—me getting hit—hit on by that scum!” His words are coming out as hiccups, the tears flowing freely down his face.

“I can’t say I’m sorry to him.” His legs buckled underneath him, and he landed a sobbing mess on the hospital floor.

Shiro sat down next to him on the floor, wrapping him in a hug. His tears soaked into the older man’s shirt, making his shoulder soggy.

He was rubbing slow circles on Keith’s back, and that only made him cry harder. It was yet another reminder of what he lost with Lance, and his heart just couldn’t take any more.

~~~

_They sat side by side on Keith’s small couch, Keith half on top of Lance. Lance had been the one to pick the movie tonight, and it was a rom com. Lance was fine, watching the movie with a small smile on his face, but Keith was sniffling as he fought back the tears. Mia was perfect for Sebastian, dammit._

_When Lance had noticed Keith’s small sniffles and felt the wetness on his leg, he had begun to rub slow circles on Keith’s back. It was calming, and soon Keith was leaning into the touch._

_“You’re like a cat,” Lance had whispered fondly at some point, and Keith had snorted in response. As retaliation, Lance had taken his hand away, forcing Keith to glare at him until he put it back._

_This was two nights before their fight, when Keith finally,_ finally _, admitted to himself that he might just love Lance._

~~~

Hours later, and a tight lipped male nurse informed Keith and Shiro that Lance was stable, and they were permitted in his room. Keith was up in an instant, and several feet away when he realized Shiro was still sitting.

Looking back at him now, he realized just how weary the other man was. There were bags under his eyes, and his normally bouncy hair was limp against his forehead. Keith was about to ask him what he was doing, when Shiro spoke first.

“Lance’s mom has just arrived from the airport, and I’m going to wait for her here. Have some time with your boyfriend before the whole McClain family arrives.”

Keith nodded, extremely thankful for Shiro and all that he had done for him in the years they had known each other.

The male nurse led the way, Keith a few paces behind. When they reached the door to Lance’s room, Keith’s steps faltered.

“He’s not awake,” the nurse supplied, and Keith nodded. “When he does wake up, push the button on his remote so we know, and can take his vitals now that he’s conscious.” Keith nodded again, and the nurse opened the door.

His breath hitched in his throat when he saw Lance.

Wires were connected to what seemed like every part of his body, machines beeping in tandem to his heart.

He was so, so still, his chest barely rising and falling as he breathed. His face was pale, and his cheekbones protruded sharply.

Keith almost broke down again right there, in the doorway. But he managed to make it over to the chair before collapsing.

The nurse had shut the door, and now the only sounds in the room was the beeping of the machines and the shallow noises of Lance breathing.

Keith was frozen. If he didn’t look too closely, it was almost like Lance was just sleeping. God knows Keith has watched Lance sleep more times than he could count. But his breaths were too small, the lines in his face too prominent. A sick urge compelled Keith to lift his hospital gown and see where the bullet had gone into his chest, but he stopped his hand before it made it all the way to the small gap in the fabric.

Lance’s hand was laying by his side, and Keith picked it up gingerly, intertwining their fingers.

“I love you so much, Lance,” he said quietly, more to himself than anything. But just like Lance the first time, he said it only when he was sure that the other boy couldn’t hear it.

_If—no when—Lance wakes up_ , Keith thinks, _I’ll tell him every day that I love him. I’ll even shout it from the rooftops._

If he got a second chance, there was nothing that would make Keith blow it this time.

~~~

_The first time they had slept together, it had been heated, passionate. Keith had a rule about sleeping with someone on the first date, and that rule was simply, ‘no’. But Lance had managed to make him break all of his other personal rules, and this was no different._

_It was clumsy, and over too soon. For both of them, it had been too long since they had gotten action, making things go a little too quickly for either of their liking. Keith had wanted to do it again immediately, but Lance was more hesitant._

_Two weeks had passed since either one of them had made a move to repeat that night’s experience. Keith had never been particularly eager for sex before, preferring to get to know a person before taking that step, but yet again, Lance made things different._

_For him, Keith hastily accepted his offer of Netflix the next Friday that they were both free. For him, Keith would break all his rules._

_They made sure to change it up every now and then, even though it was mainly Keith who topped._

_Being with Lance was… different. He was unlike anyone else he had ever met, especially outside of the bedroom._

_He was as sweet as he was corny, making sure to surprise Keith with a new pickup line every now and then._

_The first time he had used one on him after their kiss, Keith had given him a look. “We’re already dating, you idiot.”_

_Lance had pouted in response. “Just because we’re dating doesn’t mean I’m not allowed to hit on you.”_

_Keith had blushed scarlet, and that had been the end of that discussion._

_The most interesting time Lance had used a pickup line on him was the time he had asked to top for the first time._

_They were in public, and Keith had been so mortified that he had said yes without even thinking about it. Thus, was born the rule that Keith was the one to top, and Lance wasn’t allowed to use pickup lines out of the house._

_It was endearing, for the most part. Without fail, he rolled his eyes whenever another one popped out of Lance’s mouth. Lance had always quirked an eyebrow, claiming that one-day Keith would miss his pickup lines. Keith would have done anything to prevent that, had he known what the future held._

_But he didn’t, and so he never learned how to appreciate them until Lance was gone._

~~~

Lance’s hand was so cold, despite Keith having held it for the last half hour. Not once had he taken his eyes off of Lance’s face, afraid that if he blinked Lance would be gone.

“I don’t know if you can hear me, but I want to apologize. For that night, for what I said, for not calling you sooner. I should have never showed up at the library. You were probably only in that aisle to tell me to get out of your life. Now, thanks to me, you might not even have a life anymore. It was stupid, and selfish—and—and—” Keith could feel the tears threatening to spill again, and he took a moment to compose himself before he spoke again.

“I’m sorry. For everything.”

Keith was staring at Lance’s hand now. “I’ve spent every moment that I’ve been here remembering everything that we had, and blaming myself for throwing it all away. We had so many good times, you know? And throughout it all, I remember not being sure if I loved you, ignoring my own feelings in favor of being happy with where we were. I didn’t even know that loving you would open up a whole new realm of things, things even better than what we already had.

“And then I went ahead and said those words, because I was scared. I was so scared, Lance. I was scared of what loving you might mean, and scared that when I finally said it out loud that you would laugh in my face, and tell me the last six months had all been a joke. Or I would wake up from this blissful dream, and the cruel reality would be more than I could bear.”

Keith swallowed. “I was so stupid for thinking that. I should have given in to it months ago. Never have I ever been so stupid as to think that you were going to leave me. I should have never doubted you, or your feelings, and I can’t even begin to describe how mad I am at myself. All of this, it’s my fault. And Lance, I’m so sorry.”

The tears were falling now, and Keith made no move to stop them. “I could try and justify it for ages, but I’m not going to do that. Yes, there were so many things that explain why I was scared, why I couldn’t take loving you. But I’m not going to do that to you. From now on, I’m not holding back. I’m letting go of all of it, jumping off the cliff and into the great unknown. Because that’s what you do when you’re in love. You let go of all of your inhibitions, trusting your partner will be there right beside you, every step of the way. You take your past and you spit on it. Things in the past have no right to hold me back, not when I have you in my life Lance.”

Keith hiccupped twice, looking at Lance’s face. His breathing was deeper now, and Keith took that as a sign to continue.

“I don’t know if you remember that night, the night of our first date. I remember it all, from what you were wearing to the dialogue of our conversations. I remember the constellations we gazed upon, how the light in your eyes had shifted when we talked about your father. I even remember you.”

“Not in the way you’re thinking, but I remember you. When you were talking about the quote on your arm, the tattoo I did for you, and the different ways your dad used to say it to you, I held my breath, waiting to see if you remembered, too. You didn’t seem too, so I’ll go ahead and tell you. We were in fifth grade, together. My hair wasn’t a mullet back then, but I couldn’t forget those blue eyes of yours even if I tried.

“Originally, I had tried to be your friend. But you beat me to the chase. You came up to me at recess one day, your blue eyes blazing. You told me that you would never lose to me again, that we were rivals now. I had been too shocked to do anything but nod along. If it got your attention, I would gladly be your rival. Even if I wanted to be so much more. We were neck and neck that whole year. And then we were in different middle schools, and I thought we’d never see each other again. Until you showed up in the tattoo parlor that day.”

Lance’s palm was warm now, and Keith ran a thumb over his knuckles. It was the same gesture that Lance always did to him, the thing that sent heat straight down to Keith’s core. “That’s why I was staying out so late. I’m taking night school, to catch up on the year that I missed. So, when school picks up in the fall again, I can join you. I’m going to study to be a foster care worker. That way I can help kids, the way I wish someone had helped me.”

Keith had been talking for the better part of an hour, and Lance still hadn’t stirred. “ _A los cielos y arriba, mi amor_.” The Spanish was unfamiliar on Keith’s tongue, and he stumbled over the words. For months, he had wanted to ask Lance to teach him how to say the words, but the fear that he would deny him forced Keith to bite his tongue. It was something special to Lance, a remnant of his father. He didn’t want to steal that from him.

He was empty now; all the words in his head, his heart, his soul, they had all been used up. He could sit forever and not say another word.

The hand in Keith’s has grown clammy, but he refuses to let it go. They would have to pry him away kicking and screaming to get him to leave Lance again. _Never again_.

Exhaustion was pulling at him, having been nearly two days since he had slept properly.

His eyelids were drooping when a hand suddenly squeezed his.

Keith shot up, looking at Lance with wide eyes.

Lance was awake, and staring at him with those beautiful blue eyes that Keith loved so much. There was no expression on his face, and his eyes flicked down briefly to their joined hands.

Keith moved to pull his hand away, after all they weren’t even on good standing anymore, but Lance tightened his grip.

His eyes widened even further, looking at Lance unabashedly.

“Did you mean it?” Lance croaked out, voice hoarse.

“I love you,” Keith said in response. “And I meant every word I said.”

Lance was still for a moment, still staring at Keith. _Oh my God, he’s going to reject me all over again._

“I love you, too,” Lance said softly, the smile that he reserved only for Keith playing on his lips.

And for the first time in a while, Keith felt like everything was going to be okay.

**Epilogue** :

“Are you sure you want to go through with this?” Keith is eyeing Lance warily, who looks nervous but determined.

“Just do it already, Mullet.” Keith rolls his eyes but bites back a comment. The nickname only comes out when Lance uses humor to hide his anxiety. It’s not used often, which is why Keith doesn’t mind it that much.

“Alright.” Keith reached out once to squeeze Lance’s hand, and Lance squeezes back. The two share a smile, and Keith sets to work.

A year has passed since the nearly fatal shooting that almost claimed Lance’s life. A year today, actually.

Lance was actually awake for Keith’s whole speech, much to Keith’s mortification. And while they had a sweet moment after Keith had finished his monologue, there were still things that they had to resolve. Lance was still hurt by their fight, and it took him some time to move on. Keith was patient the whole time, determined not to do anything that might drive Lance away.

Slowly, day by day, Lance healed enough to leave the hospital. The bullet had missed his heart by half an inch, even though it should have hit him dead on. It ended up being caused by a birth defect, moving Lance’s heart slightly out of place. There were no complications caused by the slight misplacement, but it had been enough to save his life.

But because it had been a chest injury, it took Lance a long time to recover. Hunk and Pidge had offered to take him back to their apartment, but Lance had insisted on staying with Keith. It was the first sign that things might be okay between them.

There was one night that they spent the whole night talking, working out everything between them. Everything was forgiven, all issues resolved. They marked it as the past, and spit on it, leaping hand and hand into the future, with no ties to what had come to pass.

Keith made sure that he told Lance ‘I love you’ each morning and before they went to bed. Never again would he withhold the words.

Lotor was caught a week after the shooting, appended trying to buy a plane ticket. He had pled guilty to first degree attempted murder, and would be locked away for the rest of his life.

Two weeks ago, Keith had discovered a ring box in his sock drawer when Lance was out. That night, Lance proposed.

Much to both of their annoyance (more Lance’s than Keith’s) Keith was a terrible actor. The Cuban knew immediately that it wasn’t as big of a surprise as he expected, and Keith was goaded into admitting that he had found the ring earlier that day.

Lance was salty for a week, determined to ‘redo his proposal’, to the point where Keith went out and bought him a ring just to shut him up.

This time around, it was a complete surprise to Lance, who was sated enough that he didn’t bring up the first one again.

Shiro and Allura had eloped, Hunk and Shay had recently adopted a cat, and Pidge was busy with a mystery person. Everything was looking up.

Keith worked slowly, making sure that Lance was never in too much pain. Looking up at those blue eyes, Keith couldn’t believe he had ever hesitated falling in love with him.

A year later, and they are stronger than ever together. Their fights are back to petty squabbles, over which TV show they were watching or which board game to play. That fight so long ago was forgotten, the words erased out of their memories. From here on, it was only good things between the pair.

So much love had entered their relationship, that Keith forgot what it was like to live without him. But on the dark nights where nightmares ruled, he remembered the frightful days where they had been apart, Lance hanging by a thread.

Lance was always there to calm him down, reminding Keith that he was there, he was alive, they were together. It never failed to soothe him, and Keith thanked his lucky stars for throwing Lance back into his life with the same amount of force as when they met the first time.

It had taken Keith months to work up the strength to touch the scar on Lance’s chest. But here he was today, tattooing over it.

Lance had chosen the design, and Keith had drawn it up.

The tattoo was nearly finished now, and Keith looked at it with pride.

Covering Lance’s bullet scar was a single tattoo, bright against his tan skin.

Pluto rested on top of a stack of books, matching the same planet tattoo that Keith bore. _Of tattoos and books_ , Keith thought to himself. It was a good fit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First and foremost, I would like to thank each and every one of you. To everyone that commented, subscribed, bookmarked, left kudos, or even just clicked on it by accident. Thank you. Knowing that people enjoy what I write and leave such nice comments makes me so happy that I can't properly express it with words. Thank you for suffering through this fic, and waiting in between each update. I would have finished it anyways, but the comments and kudos are what gave me the motivation to finish writing in a reasonable time frame, and actually edit it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I love each and every one of you <3\. Second, ahhh omg it's done!! I really hope that you all enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it, and I hope I made all the angst worth it with the ending. I will never apologize for angst, though. It's been a roller coaster of emotion for me as well. I can't even tell you all how much I sobbed throughout the process of this. But anyways, this is it for this fic! I'm hoping to have new Voltron fics in the future, but I give no promises as to when they will be posted. I usually write fics only when I have inspiration, or if an idea pops into my head. Currently, there are none. Oh, and the pesky thing of starting school again. Soon, though, I am hoping to have new content. Lastly, I hope you all liked the epilogue. I didn't want to leave it with too much of an open ending, wanted some closure after all the angst.  
> Find me on Tumblr: blondeslytherin  
> Find me on Instagram: aesthetically_bookish  
> That's all folks! Thanks for reading.  
> p.s. if you noticed the things I've hidden throughout, kudos to you. Here they are: Jeremy is the name of the VA who plays Lance, Coran G-M is a reference to Coran Coran the Gorgeous Man, and something else that I put in here and can't remember.  
> p.p.s: sorry the notes are long, I had a lot to say

**Author's Note:**

> Y'all I am so sorry that I had to repost this. It was just way to frustrating to deal with and I had to redo it. I am sorry for all those who bookmarked and subscribed, I hope you found it again with the proper formatting! It's been a rough day. I will be posting the upcoming chapters every Wednesday, until it's done. This was supposed to be a one shot, but yet again, I have turned it into a long ass fic with chapters this time! This is my first chaptered fic, so again, bear with me. I am working on learning how to handle AO3 so please just enjoy the story and ignore the things that should be italicized but aren't. Also, I am hoping to publish a new chapter each week, but due to recent arm surgery and school starting I might not be able to. I'm sorry this is such a mess but I promise I am trying. Thanks in advance for all of the comments and kudos!


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